Episode 39 - Son of God AND Son of Man
John 5:25-29
John 5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
In verse 25, we observe the third “Truly, truly . . . “ statement. Think about how bold of a statement it is; “the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” How many of us think we can go to a cemetery and call out the name of a loved one and expect for them to hear us? But, if that weren’t enough, how many of us would expect that person to return among the living? If you do believe you have that kind of power, you probably don’t share that belief with anyone, knowing that they will think you are crazy. Is this what Jesus is claiming?
In this section Jesus uses the term “Son of God” and “Son of Man.” Bible scholars are quick to point out that the Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. Old Testament) spoke of God’s anointed king as His Son. Read Psalm 2:4-9 for an example of this. The point is that the people of that time prior to the time of Jesus did not necessarily equate the term “Son of God” with deity. Yet we just recently read how the Jewish rulers wanted to kill Jesus not only for breaking the Sabbath according to their rules, but for calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. My point here is that what Jesus has communicated already about his own identity has been understood by others that he’s not just claiming to be a king. It seems to me that with John already having made that known to us, then John is showing us here that Jesus is claiming to have the power to raise the dead back to life simply by speaking. Notice that the emphasis on the Word of God speaking and something happening has already become a theme in this book, hasn’t it?
If there is any ambiguity concerning what Jesus means, he seems to clear it up in the next few verses. Notice in verses 26-27 when Jesus says that the Father has granted the Son to have life in himself AND to execute judgement. Jesus’ audience believed that the Father had power to give life. They had read Genesis 1. Jesus is claiming to have been granted the same authority and power by the Father. This statement continues to emphasize the perfect harmony of will and purpose within the Godhead.
In Daniel 7, (vv. 9-14) Daniel’s vision is that of a heavenly court scene and one “like a son of man” is led before the “Ancient of Days” and is granted authority to judge and rule in a kingdom that will never end. Jesus is saying to his audience, “You know about the son of man from the prophet Daniel. I am telling you that the son of man is one and the same with the son of God.” John is leading his audience to understand that Jesus is making a claim to be God with all authority and power to perfectly judge humanity and to give them life or condemn them. But, John has already pointed out in John 3:18 , “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” The judgement is neither arbitrary or partial.
Jumping down to the last two verses of this section when Jesus says, “Do not marvel at this . . ,” he’s saying (my paraphrase) “Don’t be surprised when the dead come out of the tombs alive.” No, this is not a prophecy of a Zombie apocalypse. This is a prophecy of the end times when the Son of God/Son of Man returns to earth and speaks and the dead will rise. ( I told you this was a bold claim.) This can only happen when the One who is God and has power to give life and perfect judgment for good and evil returns to affect just that. Notice the statement about the judgement of all these called forth. Those who have “done good” to a resurrection resulting in life. But, to those who have “done evil” to judgment.
This is one of those passages that people like to argue over. Don’t many Christians say, “All have done evil. The apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’” (Rom. 3:23) That’s true. So, are all without hope? This text would seem to indicate that there is hope. How so? The other argument some might make is “See this Scripture tells us that salvation and hope of eternal life is based upon our good works and that if we’re good enough, we will be given eternal life.” But, again the Scripture tells us that there is “none righteous, not one.” (Rom. 3:10) This is one of those times when I going to jump ahead in our study and show you the answer to this dilemma that comes straight from Jesus himself. In the very next chapter (John 6:28-29) Jesus is speaking to people whom he has fed by a miracle. They come to him and ask him what works of the Father they must do. Essentially, they are asking Jesus what they can do to please God. His response in verse 29 is, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
This is the bottom line. We must trust God about who Jesus is because he is the one whom the Father has sent. He is both the Son of God with all qualities of deity and he is the Son of Man who is given authority to judge humanity, but was “lifted up” (crucified) (John 3:14-15) so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.