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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 there was a feast of the Jews (the "Feast of Weeks" or the Jewish Pentecost, regarding the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai), and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 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 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 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. 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." My study bible suggests that the fact that the Son can do nothing of Himself proves that His every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This discourse reveals that the Father and the Son are completely united in nature, will, and action. Thus, the Son fully shares the divine attributes of both giving life and executing judgment. This judgment, my study bible says, is based on both faith ("he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me") and works (v. 29, below -- "those who have done good").
"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 says that the dead (in "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God") refers both to those who are spiritually dead and who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead who will rise in the general resurrection. It says, "Christ confirms this statement by raising Lazarus (11:38-44) from the dead before going to His own death." These latter verses are used for funeral services, confirming the same reward for those who fall asleep in faith.
Jesus has healed a paralytic, and for this healing He's questioned, not for His abilities or for the outcome, but for teaching someone to carrying a burden on the Sabbath ("Take up your bed and walk") and thus technically violating a command (see Jeremiah 17:21-27). But in His response, Jesus takes us far beyond the immediate healing miracle and the power that created it, into a much greater understanding of the power of God. This power is life and death. It is the power to heal absolutely (and will be displayed as the power to raise the dead, in the final sign in this Gospel, the raising of Lazarus). And, in some sense, "life" and "death" are misleading terms -- or rather, as so often happens in the Gospel of John in more obvious ways -- we can't take them only at face value. Life and death are spiritual terms, and life and death, in the context of the words of Christ, become absolute values about the whole potentials of what constitute human beings. In short, human beings are also spiritual beings with a component potential to live in relationship to God. It is this potential that is also "life," and its lacking in our lives is "death." All that "relationship" may mean in an eternal sense is something we can't even grasp, but we can think about it. We can understand that as Christ reveals an eternal plan here when He speaks about judgment, we are invited in to consider what this really means for us, how it works, and -- maybe most importantly -- what significance that gives even to our daily lives. If we have the opportunity, here and now, to live within that relationship with Christ, if each of our choices really matter that much, then "the good we do" takes on all kinds of significance we might not give it otherwise. It's not just something we do that we think is good; it's something we do that God thinks is good. It's something we do that in the most exalted perspective counts for something, something eternal, and with intrinsic value of itself. This can take on many dimensions in our thinking, revolutionize the way we conduct ourselves. Perhaps most effectively and immediately, it means that what we do, whether seen by others in the general society or not, makes us meaningful and valuable , given that we try to do "the good." It means that what we consider the good takes on a meaning that really has to do with faith, and with relationship, and with prayer. When we pray for guidance we're submitting that we don't know all the answers, and that we can't often know what is the best choice, as if we were simply ticking off the correct answers on an exam or a test. It means we're dependent upon faith and relationship to understand the good available to us, and that we seek that "best" answer in relationship to Christ, to Creator. Jesus teaches, in the Sermon on the Mount, that what we do in secret will be rewarded openly by the Father, and these powerful words can reorient our whole lives into thinking about what the good truly is, and even what tiny little action we take that nobody may know that is laden with tremendous value and significance. It's in these places, intensely private and personal, that Christ takes us into "life" and "death." He invites us to think about the great significance of each choice, whether or not we see immediate effects, whether or not there is public recognition of some kind. And that makes each and every life valuable, and each second count. It completely invites us to consider the value of life -- of our lives and every other -- on radically new levels that change a "worldly" or purely material perspective. But it starts with faith in Him, and the viewpoint of faith that teaches us what real health is, what wholeness and life really are. Does it make a difference that human beings are so valuable to God? Does it make a difference that each life contains so much that is possible and meaningful in His point of view? Certainly it does. There are all kinds of reasons to be grateful for considerations of judgment, and the great significance it gives to all of us. Let us remember His life, and seek to pursue that through relationship, through faith, and His good.
