Resurrection Life – Now
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come 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 he has given authority to judge because he is the Son of Man John 5:24-27
Those who hear Jesus’ word and believe the One who sent Him will not be condemned on the day of judgement. In fact, they have already ‘crossed over from death to life.’ They have been transferred from the realm of sin and death into the realm of eternal life. They live now in the light of knowing that at the future judgement they will be declared righteous in Christ.
Jesus reinforced this promise with the announcement ‘a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.’ The ‘time coming’ is explained a few verses later ‘Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live’ (5:28,29). This is the general resurrection of the dead at the return of Christ.
But Jesus said this hour was not only coming but ‘has now come.’ What did He mean? The resurrection life which the Son will confer at the end of earthly time is imparted here and now to those who respond to the voice of the Son. The miracle of resurrection life is taking place inside these ones now so that, when they die physically, God will simply complete what He has already begun. The new birth is our present resurrection in this life and will finally produce the future bodily resurrection in the next life.
The final section answers the questions: why is Jesus able to give resurrection life, both now and at the end of time, and, why is He declared now to be the future judge of all mankind?
‘For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.’ Why is Jesus able to give resurrection life? Only God has life ‘in himself.’ Saying that God has granted the Son to have life ‘in himself’ means the Son shares the life of God, a blasphemous statement if the Son did not share divinity equally with the Father. God has the right to call the dead from their graves. The Son shares that right because the right belongs solely to the divine and Jesus is divine.
Why is Jesus the future judge of mankind? ‘And he has given authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.’ This could mean Jesus has authority to judge because He is uniquely human. No one could ever complain that the Judge of all could never understand the plight of a human being. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin’ (Hebrews 4:15). But those who heard Jesus’ words would immediately think back to Daniel 7 where ‘one like a son of man’ is given authority over the world, and particularly to bring God’s just judgement on the forces of evil that have oppressed God’s people (Daniel 7:13).
Jesus will bring justice to the earth. He graciously gives us His life now and with that life, the assurance that we need have no fear of the future judgement. We have already passed from death to life.
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