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

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

In yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' third sign in the Gospel of John. Jesus is at the festival, which is named by Church Fathers as the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks. There is a multitude around a pool, called Bethesda, near the Sheep Gate. It was a pool used to wash down sacrificial lambs before they were slain. But every once in awhile, the water is stirred (the people believe, by an angel), and at that moment it is believed that the one who steps in will be healed. Jesus speaks to a paralytic man: does he want to be healed? Yes, comes the answer. But when the water is stirred someone always steps in front of him. He needs someone to put him into the pool. Jesus told him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." Immediately he was healed, and did so. But when the authorities saw him violating a Sabbath rule -- carrying his burden -- they told him this was not lawful. He told them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'" The religious authorities asked who this was, but Jesus had disappeared into the crowd, and the man didn't know who He was. Later, Jesus found the healed man in the temple, and told him, ""See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." The healed paralytic then told the officials that Jesus had made him well. For this reason, the Gospel tells us, the temple authorities 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 they sought all the more to kill Him, because He 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." Here, Jesus begins to teach us just how the Father and Son are equal, and alike. There is a full likeness in the shared attributes of power, and the character in the use of that power. They are inseparable in this: the Father leads, the Son fully responds 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." Jesus promises greater signs than what they have seen, what He so far has done -- but all depends upon the Father. The Son follows and does what the Father gives Him to do. The Father gives to the Son fully, and the relationship is one of love.

"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." It is even the power of life and death, which is the power of the Father, that is also given to the Son. That is, the power to fully restore the dead to life. And something more we are taught here by Christ, that the Father leaves judgment to the Son, "that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father." Here is a clue about judgment: the Son, who is fully vested in power by the Father, represents the Father. He who rejects the Son, therefore rejects the Father. What is powerful here is the absolute statement of likeness. My study bible says this discourse "shows the Father and Son are so united in nature, will and action that the Son fully shares the divine attributes of giving life and executing judgment."

"He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." Here it is fully clear; Jesus is making His point so that it is lost on no one. This is also the will of the Father, that the Son may be honored, as is the Father -- the Son is fully vested with authority and likeness to the Father.

"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." Here is the action of the Father in the world, through the Son. What Jesus speaks is that which is given Him of the Father. Those who "take rest" in His word, who accept, shall share life in the kingdom. Even more strongly, it is redemption, a passing from death into life. Jesus is speaking of the last Judgment, but these words are in the present tense. I believe we can liken them to the present tense of Jesus' reply to the leadership in yesterday's reading: "Until now, the Father works and I work." This word may come in myriad ways; it is present to us, it reflects the One who sent Him.

"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." Here is a puzzling statement -- one about the future, an hour that "is coming," and about the present, it "now is." Speaking of the dead who will hear the voice of the Son of God leads us to understand He is speaking of the final Judgment at the end of days. But there is also a present understanding here as well, the voice is present -- as it may still be "present" to us in spirit and truth, in any encounter. And we really have to ask the question as well, even in a spiritual sense: are there any "dead" in the world, who may feel a sort of spiritual death, and who may receive life from this voice? Jesus, who has been granted life in Himself, may give this life in many ways -- it seems a kind of open and endless promise. Nothing is given in measure to Him. As the Son of Man, God incarnate, He also has authority to execute judgment. As one of us, He lives so that we may respond in all ways He may reach to us, even as we live our lives in the world.

"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." Here again is a promise about the final judgment, those who have already passed are also promised the possibility of hearing this voice, a judgment based on full knowledge of their hearts and minds and response to that voice -- which is the voice of love, and life. It is all a question of our response. It is also a promise for all beings, those living and dead, to all who lived before His presence incarnate in the world, and therefore even to all who may never have heard of Him.

Let us focus again on Jesus' statement to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, and understand today's reading in that context. He said to her, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Let us once again consider what it is to worship in spirit and truth. Note Jesus' consistency: here, He is also stating His mission as that which the Father desires. The One who sent Him is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. We have already considered these words in the context of that reading, and Jesus' statement that there is not one particular place in which to worship. But here, Jesus takes the meaning further, in teaching that these words defy not only place or space, but also time. They are a promise of a final judgment at the end of the time we understand now, but they are also words that are present to us -- here and now, just as they are a present promise to the ones to whom He was speaking in the flesh, the temple authorities. They are a promise to those who were dead, they are a promise to those who will hear this voice at the time of the final judgment. This promise lives to us, at all times and all places. And let us remember that to hear this voice is also an unlimited possibility in this sense: to worship in spirit and truth means that the potential for faith is not limited. The Father is seeking those who will worship in spirit and truth -- for the life of the world, the whole of the world and all that is in it. Life, the potential to give life, is not limited by anything in the Son's power that has been given by the Father. The Father seeks us all, everywhere, from all times. We have so many chances, so many choices to respond to this voice that is always present. Can we do so?