With Dale Ratzlaff
John 5:25-47
Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
Here Jesus says, “an hour is coming and now is”. In John 4:23 Jesus used this same phrase in speaking to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well when He was referring to worship. In that context Jesus was showing that the recognition of Messiah and His coming death would change the requirements of true worship from being limited to form and place to inaugurating a new type of worship: in “spirit and truth”.
Now He uses that same phrase to introduce new life. “The hour is coming” refers to Christ’s resurrection which conquered death and to the final resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ. The “now is” refers to the regeneration of spiritual life in those who “hear” the voice of the Son of God. “Hear” is more than listening to His voice or reading His word. It is a hearing that reaches the heart where the Spirit regenerates the soul to eternal life. It is the response to the offer of salvation that receives the gift of eternal life here and now, and it is this spiritual response now that precedes the physical glorification that will occur at the second coming.
Jesus now revels how and why He has authority to give life to the dead, both spiritually and physically. The Father who has life in Himself, has given that same authority to the Son to have life in himself. Why did the Father give the Son this authority? Because He is the Son of Man. Jesus is giving more reasons to support what was said in the first few verses of John:
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men (J. 1:4).
Jesus is the heavenly Son of Man described in Daniel 7.
I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. and to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed (Dan. 7:13-14).
Jesus now moves to the events at His coming.
Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
D.A. Carson, in his book The Gospel According to John, p. 258, says this:
It has been argued that the resurrection envisaged here does not include believers, since they have already been “raised” spiritually and do not come into judgment. Only the unbelievers are raised, and they are then divided into those who have done good and those who have done evil… This explanation will not do. Elsewhere John draws a close connection between those who experience spiritual life now and those who will rise to live at the last day: it is precisely those who enjoy eternal life now, by faith in Jesus and in the one who has sent him, whom Jesus will raise to life at the last day (6:40, 54). In the context of the Fourth Gospel, “those who have done evil [things]” “loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (3:19). John is not juxtaposing salvation by works with salvation by faith: he will shortly insist, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (6:29).
I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
Remembering that the theme of the Gospel of John is “that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that believing you may have life in His name,” John will give seven main signs and seven main witnesses to the truth of the Christ event upon which saving faith may be based. In the remainder of Chapter five John gives us four of the key witnesses to support belief in Christ.
The witness of John the Baptist
You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light (5:33–35).
The witness of Jesus’ works
But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me (5:36).
The witness of the Father
And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent (5:37–38).
The witness of Scripture
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (Jn. 5:25-47).
Jesus shows that the Jews who trusted in the witness of Moses yet rejected Him are foolish and mistaken in their rejection of Him. For Moses wrote the Law which is a “shadow” of Christ (Heb. 8:5; 10:1). Not only that, but in Deuteronomy 18 we have a clear statement that a Prophet, [Messiah] is to come, and Israel is to give head to what He says.
I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him (Deut. 18:18-19).
Application.
- We can be certain if we have responded to the saving offer of God’s grace in Christ, that we not only have eternal life now, but we will also be resurrected and get new bodies when Jesus comes again.
- There is overwhelming evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. We have the witness of John the Baptist, the witness of Jesus’ works, the witness of the Father, and the witness of Scripture. There is no excuse for unbelief.
- The good “work” we are to do is to believe in the One He has sent.
- Studying and even understanding Scripture is not enough; there must be an acceptance of the Christ of Scripture.
- The Jews of the day were willing to “receive glory from one another”. We must be careful that we do not take the word of pastors, administrators, or even theologians over the clear, contextual teaching of Scripture.
- With the coming of Christ, the focus of study is moved from “Moses”—the Law—to the words of Christ as prophesied in the Law.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the promise that I will hear Your voice and come forth from the tomb to a resurrection of life. Thank you that between now and then I already have eternal life and nothing will separate me from your presence and love.
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