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

 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 after the healing of the nobleman's son, there was a feast of the Jews, 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 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 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."  As Jesus has declared God to be My Father, the leadership understands that this implies absolute equality.  That the Son can do nothing of Himself, my study bible says, proves that His every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  In the context of the whole of today's reading, Jesus reveals that the Father and Son are completely united in nature, will, and action.  Therefore, the Son fully shares the divine attributes of both giving life and executing judgment. 

"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."  Here, Christ reveals that His judgment is based on both faith and works.  When He speaks here of the dead, my study bible notes, it refers both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  He will confirm this statement in the raising of Lazarus from the dead (11:38-44) before He goes to His own death on the Cross.  All who fall asleep in faith receive the same reward.

Jesus 'raises the stakes,' so to speak, in today's reading.  What does it mean that He is the Son of God and Son of Man?  In front of the leadership, He confesses His identity, Who He really is.  And that is immediately linked to judgment.  They will judge Him, but He is the One who will judge all of us.  It tells us something about the power of the Incarnation, the saving mission of God in the world.  God becomes a human being, not only so that He can lead the way for human beings to become "like Him," but also, because this becomes possible, He is in a position to judge.  He lives as one of us, and He also offers us the gift of eternal life.  What are the conditions?  The one who receives the gift is one who "hears My word," and "believes in Him who sent Me."  In addition, "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."   To be able to truly hear Him is indeed a gift, and we may grow in that gift.   Grace somehow works in a highly mysterious way to touch our hearts and thereby our entire beings -- to sharpen our senses, to help us grow in this gift of life, even as it may affect the lives we live now.  This is the first time Jesus has touched on such deep subjects in John's Gospel.  This great truth of judgment is revealed to the leadership.  Will they take His words seriously?  Or are they concerned with their own authority to judge and to censure?  What sentence will they pass upon Him?  God calls upon all of us to hear, but gives us so many chances to do so, and so many ways to act on that word.  Are we awake to those times?