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

 

 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 

 

On Saturday we read that 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."  In our previous reading, Jesus had declared His equality with God the Father, by saying to the religious authorities, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  In today's reading, He begins to further elaborate that equality and its various aspects.  My study Bible comments on Jesus' statement that the Son can do nothing of Himself, that this proves that Christ's every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Moreover, it says, Christ's subsequent discourse (the text of today's reading, plus another verse to come) reveals that the Father and the 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, 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.     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 comments that Jesus shows here that His 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, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation).    Jesus says that the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God:  My study Bible explains 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 confirms this statement by raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) before Jesus goes to His own death.  This passage is read at the Orthodox funeral service, confirming the same reward for those who fall asleep in faith.

In Saturday's reading, we commented on Christ's speaking about working, that "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  In today's passage, He not only affirms and elaborates on His own equality with God, but He also affirms that our own faith and works are, first of all, inseparable from each other -- especially in the sight of Christ's judgment, but that they are also crucial and necessary to that judgment.  In other words, our own faith and belief must inform our works -- works meaning the things we do in our lives.  As belief and works are linked to one another, so then judgment is based on what we do.  In other words, it is based on how we put our faith or belief into the actions we choose in life.  This is not an affirmation of outward works determining who we are, for this is a question of how God discerns what we have chosen to do in our lives, the One who sees into the heart.  It is only God who can see us and know us more deeply and intimately than we know ourselves.  So when we think of works in this context, we should not think of what it is to perform outward deeds that appear good to other human beings.  In the Gospels, Jesus famously condemns those who do things simply to be seen by others, who "love the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:42-43).  But we are, like God the Father, Son, and Spirit, creatures whose lives consist of both being and doing:  it is that inner love of God that should inform what we do in life, and this is what Jesus is talking about.  Doing, our action, becomes the basis of judgment:  "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."  In this way, as my study Bible explains, we creatures are like God.  Jesus, as divine 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."  As Christ "learns" in some sense from the Father, and is shown works to do, so we are also to learn our own "works" from our love of God, our communion with God, our prayers and worship.  It seems crucially significant that we understand that Christ's judgment is life itself, and moreover, the power of judgment is entrusted to Him because He is the Son of Man ("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").  In other words, His mission as Incarnate Son, and His life as fully human among us, qualifies Him for this authority.  We will not be judged except by One who has lived as one of us, among us and with us, both fully human and fully divine, and there is no other than this unique and uniquely-qualified authority.  It is out of love that we are known and seen, out of love that Jesus becomes one of us, out of love that authority for judgment is based on this saving mission.  Christ dignifies work with the faith He offers to us, and our capacity to do good based on that faith.  What we do is significant, important, not simply for us, but in the grand plan of salvation, for we are invited in to be "like God" who is always working, in the same way that Jesus does what He sees the Father do.  It is often said that mercy is love in action.  Let us remember that we are called to be "like God" in this respect (Matthew 25:31-46).