Today’s text is powerful…what we are going to look at today are the words of Jesus…I’m not sure if Jesus elaborated more on what we have written in Scripture, because speaking to the Jews, it would have been ‘common knowledge’ regarding the resurrection…judgment…and life after death or if possible John condensed down what Jesus said.
Because there is so much information in such a short narrative, it requires we do a critical analysis of the text in order to understand what Jesus is saying. [5:19-20]
It’s been suggested that the following verses are Jesus’ response to the Jews regarding Him curing the man and commanding him to carry his bed on the Sabbath and the argument concerning His equality to the Father.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “…I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 “…whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has passed out of death into life. 25 …I tell you, 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. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
The Jewish rulers charged Jesus with two very serious crimes…ONE charge grew out of the miracle of healing on the Sabbath that Jesus performed at the Bethesda Pool in Jerusalem…the SECOND charge was because Jesus claimed equality with God.
18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God”.
It’s interesting that for the people who claim there is no God…or that they don’t believe in God…they will state their belief in Jesus…not that He is the Son of God…they’re not willing to go that far…but that He was a great teacher…a good person…an emancipator…that His teaching has been the catalyst that has changed the world’s views regarding…women…children…marriage…education…and humanitarian reform.
They don’t deny that an historical figure named Jesus has been the dominant figure in the history of Western Culture for almost 20 centuries…but they refuse to believe that Jesus was God in the flesh…and mistakenly assert that Jesus never claimed equality with God.
So, based on people’s unbelief in who Jesus says He was…there are really only three options regarding Jesus’ claims about Himself:
- His claim is true…He is who He says He is…or
- He is a liar and a deceiver…or
- His claims are false and He doesn’t know it…He’s deranged.
Jesus had already proven that the last statements are untrue…He’s not a liar…He’s not a deceiver …and He’s not deranged…He’s given positive evidence to show that through miracles and by divine wisdom and omniscient insight He is the Son of God.
To add validity to that assertion…in [v. 17-24] Jesus gives evidence of His deity by declaring that the work He is doing is equivalent to the work done by God.
Jesus is Equal to God in person
5:18 – “…He was making Himself equal with God”
Jesus is Equal to God in works
5:19 – “…whatever the Father does the Son also does”
Jesus is Equal to God in Power
5:21 – “…the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes
Jesus is Equal to God in Judgment
5:22 – “…not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son
Jesus Is Equal to God in Honor
5:23 – “…all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father…”
All this is what Jesus says about Himself…it confirms that Jesus is one in function with God…that He doesn’t operate independently from God in nature…in works…or in power.
No other person in the history of the world can make those claims…what person can even remotely say that whatever God does I do…what human can make that
statement.
John’s Gospel probably contains the deepest insights of any book in the Bible concerning who Jesus is and how He relates to the Father…the previous verses are a summary of what Scripture declares about the relationship between Him and God.
Based on His relationship with the Father Jesus tells the Jewish leaders as the Son of God what has been granted Him:
“21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
In these two verses, Jesus identifies two attributes that have been delegated to Him: ONE…His ability to give life… and TWO…He is the final judge of all mankind.
The FIRST attribute…Granting life (5:21). What is the ultimate power in the universe…to give life…without the ability to give life there would be nothing…who besides God has the ability to give life…God has given all creatures the “breath of life” [Genesis 1:30] …He gives life and breath to all things [Acts 17:25] …He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them [Psalm 146:6] …both the Father and the Son give life [5:21].
BUT…not just a physical life…but eternal life as well…the age-old question…if a man dies will he live again? …the question asked by Job [Job 14:14] …what does the Bible say…all people…both believers and unbelievers…every person who has ever lived will one day be raised from the dead …EVERYONE…will live forever.
But Jesus clearly makes a distinction between the two regarding what happens after the resurrection:
“29 …those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”
So…clearly there is a distinction regarding where believers and the unbelievers will spend eternity…for the Christian the place we go has already been settled.
The phrase, “whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life” [24] is the promise of life now and after death…it doesn’t say “will have eternal life,” but “has eternal life”. The verb “has” (ἔχει) in the Greek is in the present tense…it’s something you possess now…it’s not something just in the future.
To emphasize this fact, Jesus says that the believer has passed (μεταβέβηκεν) “out of death to life” …the word “passed” is in the perfect tense… meaning it has already happened.
Our names are already written in the “Lamb’s book of life” [Rev.13:8] … we have already been transferred ‘out of death into life’ [24] …we are “pardoned” through the blood of Christ… [1 John 2:1-2; 1 Peter 1:18-19]. The decision regarding eternal life has already been made when you accepted Jesus as your Savior.
I don’t understand why this continues to be a source of conflict with some denominations…we looked at [1 John 5:18] last week and the statement ‘We know that everyone (who) has been born of God’ clearly states the security of the believer.
OK…but what happens after I die…the time between when I die and the resurrection?
There is a spiritual resurrection and a physical resurrection…this is illustrated as– already/but not yet–…the resurrection of all who have died is still in the future…that’s the not yet part… BUT notice… ‘An (time) hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God’ [25] Jesus is not referring to a physical resurrection…but rather to a spiritual resurrection that happens in this life.
By nature we are all spiritually dead [Eph 2:1] …the whole human race is born spiritually dead…unresponsive to God…in this verse Jesus says I give spiritual life… ‘an hour is coming’… Jesus says the time is now…He has been giving spiritual life for 2000 years…that’s the already part.
But even though we were dead, because of our sins God gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead [Eph 2:5]. Jesus describes it this way: ‘he has crossed over from death to life.’ [24].
So what happens at death? … there are three occurrences that happen at death…one is immediate…the other two happen in the future…Jesus mentions them in quick succession…this gets especially difficult when trying to interpret Scripture.
The first…is not even mentioned here by Jesus…here’s something important about the Bible…no single text contains the full picture of what occurs at death.
The complete collection of information must be assembled from various passages with each one contributing to the overall explanation of what occurs at death.
The Bible teaches…for the Christian…the human spirit at death goes immediately into the presence of God:
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return to God who gave it
Luke 8:55 And her spirit returned, and she rose immediately;”
Luke 23:46
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit
Stay with me…at death your spirit leaves the body and remains in a separate state where you await the physical resurrection of your body…BUT that place is NOT heaven.
The error is in believing that at death you go to Heaven…or at death that is the resurrection …that is not correct… at death you are transported to what Jesus Himself called Paradise…the righteous dead are now in Paradise…NOT in heaven.
For thousands of years Christians have been in Paradise with Jesus awaiting the resurrection of their bodies…so, a physical resurrection is not experienced immediately after death but rather a way of referring to a newly embodied life after death.
To be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord, but this “place” is not heaven because Christians have not yet received their glorified bodies…clearly then there is a distinct difference between Paradise and being in Heaven.
At death you enter into Paradise where you wait for your physical resurrection… referred to as the first resurrection.
28 “for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice 29 and come out…”
There are two resurrections…let’s look at the first resurrection for a minute…it includes those who have died and are raised to life when Christ invisibly returns to earth…more commonly referred to as the Rapture.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [1 Thess. 4:16]
Even though you are physically dead…you will hear the voice of Christ calling to you…your body will hear and awake and be reunited with your spirit that has been waiting in Paradise. The second part of that event occurs:
we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever [17]
Both groups…those who have died and those who are alive on earth, will be immediately taken into Heaven…you will then be transformed into your immortal body…you will have a body like Jesus Himself.
Remember earlier I said God delegated two attributes to Jesus…just discussed the first one…His ability to give physical life and life after death…now we’ll look at the second one.
The SECOND attribute…He is the final judge of all mankind.
Back to the Rapture…those taken into Heaven at the first resurrection…and those who are alive on the earth and who will accompany them will then come face to face before Jesus…again…Jesus glazes over this by simply saying:
22 …the Father judges no one but has entrusted all judgement to the Son.
Not much detail in that statement because among the Jewish people there was a common belief in a resurrection of all people to some type of judgement.
But Paul elaborates on that belief in two different writings regarding what happens once we’re in heaven…and what that judgement involves.
“We will all stand before God’s judgment seat” (Romans 14:10) and
“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ….” (2 Cor. 5:10).
Once in Heaven there will be a judgement…all Christians will appear at the bema seat or judgement seat of Christ…the writer of Hebrews makes this point:
“It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement” [9:27]
For Christians this is what you can expect:
FIRST…our names are already written in the “Lamb’s book of life” [Rev.13:8].
SECONDLY…at death our spirit goes to be with the Lord. [2 Cor. 5:8].
THIRDLY…we have the promise of a physical resurrection [John 11:25].
FOURTHLY…Scripture says upon arrival there will be a judgment [Heb 9:27].
Need to understand something about this judgement…FIRST…our eternal destiny is determined here on earth, not after we die…the judgment in the next life has nothing to do with your salvation…it’s not a judgment to determine lost or saved.
Jesus gives the qualifications of those who are eligible to receive entrance into Heaven.
“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 passed out of death to life.” (5:24).
Paul rejoices over this fact in Romans:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1-2)
The phrase, “will not be condemned” is literally, “does not come under judgment” …it’s important to know that Jesus is referring to Christians only.
So…if our names are already written in the Book of Life…we’re standing in Heaven and been declared ‘not guilty’ …why a judgement…why will we still stand before Christ?
This is important…don’t lose sight of this…first of all the term ‘judgement’ is a little misleading…it’s not to determine lost or saved…the benefit of having the completed Bible explains what the Judgement is for.
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done,” (Rev. 22:12)
That describes a future time when there will be a giving of rewards based on what we have done during our time on earth….
For the Son of Man is going to come… and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. (Matt. 16:27)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Cor. 5:10)
Let me show you the Grace of God…even for those people who have nothing to show for being Christians…I don’t know how someone can go through their entire life on earth and not have one thing that identifies them as a Christian… BUT…it must happen because it’s talked about in Scripture.
This verse shows the mercy of God.
“each [believer’s] work will be shown for what it is…it is to be revealed with fire; and fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he built upon it remains [[talking about things done for the glory of God]] he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss [of rewards]; but he himself shall be saved [from hell]. [1 Cor. 3:13-15]
Notice that even in the worst-case scenario the believer who is denied any reward is still saved…despite the totally unfavorable evaluation it does not jeopardize his possession of eternal life.
Look again at verse [24] …”whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned.” …the only requirement for Salvation.
So, we have a positive statement… “whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life” …and a negative statement… ‘those who have done evil will rise to be condemned [30].
This is the second resurrection…it’s independent of the first…it happens 1000 years after the first and includes those who are unbelievers.
So, here’s the promise that both believers and unbelievers will have a bodily resurrection…that both will be judged…for believers it will be a judgement based on what we have done during our time on earth…for the unbeliever it will be a judgement based on their unbelief in Jesus…here’s what John says about that event.
“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life.” (Revelation 20:12)
“If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of lie, he was thrown into the lake of fire. [Rev. 20:15]
This was common knowledge among the Jews…Daniel prophesied about this event hundreds of years earlier [Daniel 12:2]
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt
In the Old Testament…Yahweh is called “the Judge of all the earth.” (Genesis 18:25; Psalm 94:2; 1 Samuel 2:10] …But here Jesus claims the right to judge …as Son of Man He has been given authority and dominion over the Kingdom of God.
Here stands a Galilean carpenter with dirt on His sandals claiming that He is the One who is the giver of all life…both now and in the life to come…and…who has the power to judge the eternal destiny of all people…it’s a staggering claim.
See how critical it is to have an understanding of what Jesus is saying in these verses…unfortunately millions of people will go through their entire earthly life and never understand the severity of what has been said…many more will read it and be clueless of what it implies…mostly because no one ever shared with them the gravity of these verses.
Jesus’ ability to give life… whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life [24] … and that He is the final judge of all mankind…the Father…has entrusted all judgement to the Son [22].
Here’s the cold reality of this whole message…there is going to be a future, physical resurrection of every man and woman who has ever lived…everybody is going to live forever, somewhere…there is a resurrection of life and a resurrection of condemnation.
Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned [29].
To accept Jesus is to receive the resurrection of life. To reject Jesus is to receive the resurrection of condemnation.