May 4, 2021 John 5: 25
21Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and
gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomsoever he wishes. 22The Father judges no one but has given all
judgment to the Son, 23so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who
does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my
word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under
judgment, but has passed from death to life. 25“Very truly, I tell you, the 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. 26For just as the Father has life in himself, so
he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; 27and he has given him authority to execute
judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is
coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and will come out—those who have done good, to
the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of
condemnation. 30“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is
just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
We have the ‘pay attention’ marker at the beginning of
verse 25, Very Truly… First, the hour is coming and is now here… This reference to the hour is to specify the
time of the work of Jesus. It seems to
have two connotations, by connotation I mean a word that is a little more vague
than the hour, as a technical term, having a precise meaning. It seems to speak of the time of Jesus’ impending
death and resurrection as well as speaking more generally of the life and
ministry of Jesus leading into that death and resurrection.
As I write this, I find myself wondering. One theory of the way the gospels are written
is that they are not so much a chronology of Jesus’ time among us, although
there are chronological elements, especially at the beginning and end of his
ministry, but that they are arranged more topically. It would be interesting to do a word study on
the term ‘hour’ and see how it connects to the way Jesus uses it. Does it generally refer toward his death and
resurrection or more widely? But that is
not for this moment.
Jesus says the dead will hear His voice and they will
live. It is interesting to be writing
this the day before Cinquo De Mayo, Day of the Dead. Here is a clear distinction in the practices
of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant traditions. There are prayers said for and masses offered
for those who have died in the Roman Catholic tradition. I am not a Roman Catholic so I will not
presume to be able to explain the theology behind these practices, except to
report what little I have heard second hand, that it has to do with shortening
time in Purgatory, an apparent waystation between this life and the life to
come. That is a thumbnail of hearsay and
very peripheral knowledge of this area of Christian theology in the Roman
Catholic flavor. Drawing a tenuous conclusion,
it would seem logical to me that this verse would provide some Biblical warrant
for this practice.
Being in the Reformed tradition of the Protestant wing of
the church, prayers for the dead are declared as not to be said according to our
own confessional statements. That is
based on the assumption that there is this life and the life to come. Once this life is done, we are in the hands
of Christ, our Judge, and that is that.
Prayers and efforts are to be made on behalf of those here on earth, in
this life.
What this verse points to is that Jesus’ death and
resurrection occur at one point in history, but that the effects go forward and
backward in time. Those who hear the voice
of the Son of God, how does that occur in the past? This goes to the blending of roles that Jesus
has been sharing, to honor the Father is to honor the Son, what we will see is
that the Father abides in the Son and the Son in the Father as the Son abides
in us and we in him (from John 15).
Thus, those who have heard and known the Word of the Father who died
before these specific pieces of God’s Plan were historically implemented, they
are part of the Plan from its inception before Creation. So, for example, Adam and Eve were cast from
the Garden, condemned to death for original sin, cursed in Genesis 3, but to
hear the voice of the Son of God is to see their salvation.
Makes it interesting to consider the case of Cain, the
first murderer, but that is stretching beyond these verses. What Jesus is pressing us to understand is
that to know Him as Son of God is to know God, which means the salvation knowledge
and plan of God as well as its benefits.
This is one of those pieces of theological reflection that frankly blows
my mind.
More later.
Peace, Pastor Peter
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