Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting 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 at this time, there was a feast of the Jews (considered to be the Old Testament Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks, commemorating 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."  My study Bible comments on Christ's saying 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.  The Lord's discourse, it says, reveals that the Father and the Son are completely united in nature, will, and action.  Therefore, we understand that 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.  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."   This part of Christ's discourse shows that the Lord's judgment is based on both faith (verse 24) and works (verse 29).  Jesus says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God."   Here, my study Bible indicates, "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.  It adds that the Lord confirms this statement when He raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) before He goes to His own death.  The verses in the paragraph quoted here are read at the Orthodox funeral service, hence confirming the same reward for those who fall asleep in faith. 

Life and death, resurrection and life, judgment of condemnation and judgment of resurrection:  all of these themes are in Christ's statements in today's reading.  Therefore, we must conclude that all of these weighty and mysterious matters are part of the purview of who Christ is, the Son's identity and the Father's role for the Son.  Here is the powerful statement that affirms the strength of faith and what it can do:  "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."   It is faith in Christ that has this powerful effect which leads to everlasting life.  To hear the word and believe does not indicate a simple acceptance of a code or creed, but that we live by Christ's commands in faith.  In this sense, Christ's power of death and resurrection, and even of judgment, remains in His hands, but also in our own response to Him as well.  What do we believe in the truth?  How do we live that truth?  More importantly, what Christ indicates here is that faith leads us somewhere; it's not something we sign on to at some stage in our lives and put in a back drawer somewhere.  It's not simply a one-time decision.  Faith is a pathway.  Jesus will say, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" in John 14:6.  The word translated as "way" means also "road" in Greek.  Our faith is a pathway, a road, that leads us somewhere, and here Jesus is teaching us exactly where.  But we are assured by Christ that all will be raised:  "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."  But He also indicates that not all will go to the resurrection of life.  So to live our faith is to be on a pathway somewhere; and it is to infuse our lives with the power of His life; that is the power of life itself which belongs in Christ.  We pray to have our own lives "enlivened" by His grace when we need it.  We pray to have our lives "enlivened" by His mercy and love, our hearts illumined by His light, our lives imbued with the "eternal" or "everlasting" quality that the divine can bring to it, however we may receive the degree of that grace and energy that we can, even while still living in this world.  Let us consider the very long range vision of our choices, the path that leads to a certain place, a steady growing in Christ's light and the pathway He sees for us.  For all of it is important, and He leaves none of it out here in this discourse before the religious authorities.  He has come to leave this good news for us all, His gospel, and risks His life to do so.  But He calls us to the place of life with Him, the power of life, death, and Resurrection for all.