John 5:25-29

John 5:25-29

Truly, truly I say to you that an hour comes and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and the ones who heard will live.  For just as the Father has life in Himself, He gave life to the Son to have in Himself.  And He gave authority to Him to make judgments since He is the Son of Man.  Do not be amazed at this, because the hour comes in which all the ones in tombs will hear His voice and the ones who did good things will come out into a resurrection of life and the ones who practiced moral baseness will come out into a resurrection of judgment.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus once more pushes the Jewish leaders into a place of understanding His equality with God.  God is life.  However, Jesus has been given authority over life by the Father.  Jesus has life.  He is no ordinary human being like us who have no answer when death knocks on our door.  Jesus is life, and He has an answer against the power of death because He is God.

What does it mean to you that Jesus has been given life?  How does Jesus being given life extend to you?

Second Thought:

The first type of resurrection about which Jesus speaks in this passage is the resurrection of those who are in Christ.  Notice that Jesus focuses on two dynamics when speaking about resurrection.  There are those who hear Him.  There are those who do good things.  In other words, once more we see Jesus connect the general concepts of believe and obey.  As I’ve said before, only those who believe obey, and only those who obey believe.  What we can know here is God’s promise.  Those who hear His voice and who respond in like kind and do good will know the resurrection into life.  It isn’t what we deserve, but it is what God promises.

Have you heard God speak into your life?  Have you been obedient in your response to His voice?

Third Thought:

The second resurrection about which Jesus speaks in these passages is in the last phrase of this paragraph.  Those who practice moral baseness will be raised into judgment.  Of course, this is the fate that we all deserve as we all have sinned.  Christ allows those of us who hear and obey to escape this judgment free of the guilt that we should bear.  But those who are not in Christ will feel this judgment rest upon them.  Jesus speaks clearly about this possibility; we should take this option seriously and teach about this reality.

How does the idea of a resurrection into judgment sit with you?  How does this possibility make you feel about God in that He was gracious to provide a way out?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 5:30-38