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Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
"Most assuredly, I say to you, the 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 as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."
- John 5:19-29
Yesterday, we read that Jesus went up to Jerusalem at a Feast (my study bible suggests that later verses in this chapter indicate it is the Feast of Weeks, known also as the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, which centers on the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai). Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed." He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'" Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?" But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He had not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
"Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father." Jesus explains the theology, the workings of the spiritual life of the Father and the Son. They are united in will; in fact, the Son "can do nothing of Himself." They are united in love, in and nature and will, and in action. So much so, that the Father extends to the Son the giving of life -- and more, all judgment has been committed to the Son. Therefore the Son should be honored just as is the Father, for it is plainly the will of the Father.
"He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." So united in nature, will and action are Father and son, that the word given by the Son is that of the Father -- that faith in this word is a commitment of faith to the Father. This word is life itself, and secures a relationship of life beyond our understanding.
"Most assuredly, I say to you, the 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 as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." My study bible teaches that "these verses refer to the general resurrection of the dead at the end of days. However, that 'hour' is already present and 'now is' in that an encounter with Christ results in life or judgment as a present reality, depending upon one's response. Those who believe in Christ have already passed from death into life."
Today's reading teaches us about the theology of the Father and the Son. All things are passed from the Father to the Son, and in this we can't leave anything out. Nature, will, and action are united in love. So much so, that, as my study bible puts it, "the Son fully shares the divine attributes of giving life and executing judgment." In Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus teaches, "Do not judge, lest ye be judged," it is this same Greek root here in today's passage that is translated as condemnation. All of this is to stress that there is one judge, ultimately, of all of us. While this judgment and this life is entrusted to the Son, it doesn't belong to us human beings. There is this great sense that such astonishing capacity as giving life and taking it away, in the fullest understanding of life, is a tremendous marvel and authority, only given to the Son by the Father. In fact, it is stressed here, it is the Son who is given this authority, and the Son who will carry it out. I find this intriguing, because again it teaches us about God's love, in the origin of the Father and the relationship of the Father and Son. It is the Son who will judge, but it is also the Son who has fully become one of us, who has lived His live as a human being and borne the things that we bear in our lives. Only then, it seems, does judgment come into His hand, in the fullness of the authority granted to the One who will also be the sacrifice, who will suffer for us, and as one of us. If we don't understand that the nature of the God we have faith in is love, then we have missed the calling of God to each of us. Ultimately, the One who is called upon to be the sole judge is the One who is not only the divine knower-of hearts, but who has also fully lived a human life, fully suffered, fully sacrificed for others. The fullness of God, therefore, is this intersection of the eternal and the temporal, both natures united in one Person. This is possibly the greatest mystery of all, but ultimately it is a great mystery of love, of authority that is fully vested in love and service, and the nurturing of life in abundance. My study bible has one more important note in which it also teaches about the message here to us about judgment itself: that "this judgment is based on both faith and works. The two can be distinguished, but they cannot be separated. Those who respond to the Son of God in faith and who do good will receive the gift of eternal life." Our faith and the works we do are inseparable, for they both are rooted in love -- and they bind us to the God who both loves and acts in love, who extends Himself to become one of us, and whose authority is rooted in both.
