John 5
We have, in this chapter, the quickening power of Christ in giving life to the dead, in contrast to the legal ordinance of the law.
The law required strength on the part of the person in order to benefit from the angel's visit at the pool. By contrast, Christ brought with Him the power to quicken and heal. Many sick were at the pool of Bethesda, waiting for an angel to move the waters. The first person to step into the waters that were moved by the angel was healed of his plague.
At the pool, Jesus saw a man lying on one of the porches, and, knowing that he had been sick a long time, He asked, "Wilt thou be made whole?" The man had the will and desire to be healed, but no strength. He answered, There is no man to help me; before I can reach the pool another steppeth down ahead of me. Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." Being made whole, he took up his bed and walked. One word from Jesus was enough. It was the Sabbath day.
The Jews said to the impotent man who was healed, You carry your bed unlawfully on the Sabbath. He answered, "He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk." They ask who it was that said this to him. He did not know, Jesus having disappeared among the large company of people.
Later Jesus found him and said, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." The man told the Jews who it was that made him whole. Because He had violated the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted and sought to slay Jesus. His answer to them was, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."
The Jews were enraged that Jesus would call God His Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus said, The Son can only do what He sees the Father do. He loves the Son, showing Him what He Himself does, and greater, marvelous things He will do.
All Judgment Is Committed to the Son
The Father raises the dead; also the Son raises and quickens whomsoever He will. All judgment is committed to the Son.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." The Son must be honored as the Father is honored. If the Son is not honored, neither is the Father. The Son is in full union with the Father.
"The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." Having "life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man.... For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
It might seem to some that both groups-those who have done good and those who have done evil-are judged at the same time, or that both resurrections occur at the same time. This is far from the truth. There is at least one thousand years between the resurrection of those who have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Those who had done good are believers. None are good in themselves-all have sinned. Doing good, in connection with Christianity, is to believe on the One whom the Father has sent, Jesus our Savior and Redeemer. Such, having been saved, with their sins being washed away in the blood of Christ, will be raptured to heaven just before the judgments that usher in the millennium.
The ones who have done evil, rejecting Christ or the testimony given to them from God, will remain in their graves for the one thousand years before being judged finally for their sins.
Two hours are spoken of here in relation to judgment and the hereafter. Those who belong to the first hour, verse 25, will have part in the first resurrection. Those who belong to the second hour, verse 28, will have their part in the resurrection of damnation (condemnation).
There is no uncertain destiny spoken of here. It is not judgment which determines our eternal destiny, but rather it is the end result of the condition of the unbelievers who reject Christ as their personal Savior. The Lord quickens those who believe, and this determines their destiny with Christ. He not only quickens souls to believe, but also raises the dead. His sovereign power quickens whom He will.
The kingdom and the judgment belong to Christ. "Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31).
Man will be judged by the man, Christ Jesus, who is God as well. When the unbelievers stand before their Judge, they might want to say (although we know from Scripture they will be speechless) to the judge, You are God and cannot know how we live, because You do not have our nature. But they will surely know that the Judge on the great white throne is the man, Jesus, who has taken man's nature, and judges man in that nature. The judgment itself is the judgment of God, because Jesus is God.
There are four witnesses given in this chapter:
Verse 33, John the Baptist;
Verse 36, the works of Christ;
Verse 37, the Father;
Verse 39, the Scriptures.
In spite of these witnesses, the Jews would not believe in Jesus. They would not come to Jesus for life. Alas! this is also true of Gentiles. "I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." Seeking the honor given by one to another, and not the honor of God only, you cannot believe. I do not accuse you, but Moses does. "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me." The Jews did not give credit to the inspired writings of Moses.