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 to 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 (according to patristic tradition, this is understood to have been the Old Testament Pentecost, known also as the Feast of Weeks, the commemoration of the giving of the Law to Moses), 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 to life."   Jesus' response to the charges of making Himself equal with God is to emphasize the relationship between Himself and the Father.   In fact His emphasis is on the love between them, which results in the gifts of Father to Son.  My study Bible comments that as the Son can do nothing of Himself, it is proof that Christ's every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It says that the discourse which Jesus begins here 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.  Christ's judgment, as we read hear, is based on both faith ("he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me") and works (verse 29, at the end of today's reading).

"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 says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God."  My study Bible comments on this verse that the dead refers both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  Christ will confirm this statement in the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) before going to His own death.  

 

In today's reading, Jesus expresses His depth of relationship to the Father:  all that the Father has, He has granted to the Son.  In particular, Jesus mentions that the Father has life in Himself, and has also granted the Son to have life in Himself.  Moreover, the Father has given Christ authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Let us take these two statements and look closely at what Jesus is saying for us (for clearly, these words are for us; Jesus needs no one to declare Him to Himself).  This great gift of life, of being a creator and giver of life, is a gift to us.  He says that the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth.  This speaks of the Resurrection and also of Judgment.  But how often do we realize that this power of life in Christ is a gift which He shares with us also day to day?  Christ's nature remains His nature; that is the power of life, the power of Resurrection, the power to always be making all things new (Revelation 21:5).  But as we are able to participate in His life -- through prayer, through worship, through faith and its many expressions -- so we are also able to pray for this renewal of life that is in Christ.  Do we need a second chance?  Do we need forgiveness?  Did we take a wrong turn and need a new path?  Do we need to start over, or to give up a bad situation for Christ's guidance through it?  All of these things are part of the power of life and resurrection in Christ, in which we may participate.  Moreover, Jesus says that the Father has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.  What is the Son of Man?  This is a mysterious title from the Old Testament apocalyptic literature.  But what it seems to imply is that this Son of God is also Son of Man as He has lived His life as also fully human.  Therefore He knows us thoroughly and He knows our lives and struggles and what it is to live in this world.  As Son of Man, He can be a true and just judge.  He has lived life fully as one of us.  In that sense His judgment is true, and we may seek that judgment for ourselves and not be afraid of it.  We may reach to Him as He has reached to us in every possible and thorough way, as one of us.  And let us look to the love of the Father and the Son for one another, and understand that this is the pattern that is set in heaven, the pattern through which Christ lives and reaches to us, in this love that rules in heaven (even as He has taught us to pray to Our Father, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven").  So we may turn and participate in the life He offers, and find that love not only for ourselves, but to learn and to share it with others as we learn from Him. For this love and life constitute the greatest gift of all, from Father to Son, to us.