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

 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.  This was for the Feast of Weeks, or the Old Testament Pentecost, the giving of the Law.  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 had already 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 had 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."   Jesus speaks of the equality of Father and Son, and the absolute unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  That the Son can do nothing of Himself testifies to this.  My study bible says that this discourse reveals that the Father and the Son are completely united in nature, will, and action.  Therefore, as Jesus says here, the Son fully shares the divine attributes of both giving life and executing judgment.  Moreover, the point is clear, the Father honors the Son, and has committed all judgment to the Son, therefore the one 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."  Jesus speaks of faith and judgment, building on the statement that one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  My study bible makes note that Christ's judgment is based on both faith (he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me) and works (those who have done good and those who have done evil).  Note also that the Father has given the Son authority to execute judgment also because He is the Son of Man. 

In Jesus' words today is the power of the Incarnation:  the Father has given the Son authority to execute judgment also because He is the Son of Man.   That is, it is the power and mission of the Incarnation itself that conveys the authority of judgment of the Son, upon Christ.  In Cardinal Jean Danielou's patristic study of angels (The Angels and Their Mission), he notes that the early Church understood quite well that it was the Ascension of Christ as Jesus, in His human nature, that astonished even the angels, and is the great and overwhelming good news of an entire created cosmos.  Here in John's Gospel, we have this understanding from the earliest years of the Church confirmed:  that it is the Incarnation itself that allows this to happen, that creates the power of authority and judgment in Christ.  Because He has lived as one of us, judgment is possible.  We are reminded of Jesus showing His hands and His side to Thomas, His disciple, after Resurrection (John 20:24-29).  There can be no doubt that Christ ascended together with the experience of His humanity; as the Church Fathers would say, with His human nature, as evidenced by His hands and side shown to Thomas, and the effects of the violence visited upon Him at His Crucifixion.  This opens up innumerable questions for ourselves as human beings.  Are we, too, destined to become a part of heaven with our own human nature transfigured?  What about our own experiences in life, even our own suffering for the gospel message?  Do those experiences, also, become a part of the life of heaven, and our lives beyond this world?  In the Revelation, we are told, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:3-4).  We know that the Tabernacle of God is with us and dwells with us, but what of this teaching that God will wipe away every tear, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying?  Does this mean that our experiences in life do not follow us into the fullness of life in Christ?  I think the evidence of Christ's hands and side tell us that it doesn't mean this at all.  Crying may be finished, and death and sorrow as well, but this does not indicate that our experience of such, and the things that we take with us, do not remain an integral and essential part of the kingdom of God even in its fullness, when we see "face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12).  I think we cannot underestimate the significance of our worldly lives and choices, and our experiences and what we make of them, and how we walk through them.  For it seems to me that Christ vindicates all of our experience when He tells us that it is because He is the Son of Man that the Father has given Him the authority to execute judgment.  If it is because of His very human nature and the role He has played as Son of Man, then clearly our own transfigured human nature becomes that much more important to the grand scheme of the created universe, of all things visible and invisible.  For this, the angels rejoice at the nativity, and in support of such a mission the angels minister to Christ, and they minister to us.  So let us cherish our experiences, and let us understand the vast significance granted to each moment of our lives.  When we think we are alone, and no one cares or values what we do, and no one sees, let us not deceive ourselves with such thinking.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It really doesn't matter what precisely are the circumstances of our lives; whatever we think attention gets us in life, it has nothing to do with Christ's judgment of our significance or importance.  Just as His time on the Cross was spent with ridicule, and very few supporters or loved ones standing near, so our own time takes on the significance of those marks and evidence of His life as Son of Man when we follow Him.  We don't know what places are prepared for those who love Christ (14:3; 1 Corinthians 2:9).  But we can understand in His message the powerful significance of His Incarnation and mission in the world, and the impact this makes on the significance of our own worldly lives, even to the kingdom of God.  Let us consider, then, even more carefully how our choices matter, our experiences matter, what it means to be a witness to Christ.  We don't know the impact it has beyond our own circumstances, and the moments of our lives.  But we can be sure that the central mission of a universe rests within those moments, making them poignant and full of significance -- even if the world does not see it as such.