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John 5:27–47 The Resurrection of the Dead 5:28–29 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out — the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation. Later, in John 11, Jesus calls Lazarus by name and raises him from the dead. But here Jesus assures his hearers that there will be a future time when all the dead shall be raised from their graves at the sound of his voice. Many Jews already believed in the idea of resurrection, but here Jesus connects that belief directly to himself; just as elsewhere he links the eternal destiny of the resurrected to their acceptance or rejection of him during this life (John 3:16, 36). Hence, those who have ‘done what is good’, are those who have obeyed the truth and accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour (John 3:18), and these will (according to other scriptures) be raised with a body like his glorious body, and enter eternal of life—this is called the first resurrection (1 Thess 4:16–17; 1 Cor 15:51–54; 1 John 3:2; Rev 20:6). Those who have ‘done what is evil’, who have rejected the truth and decided to continue in sin shall by contrast take part in the resurrection which leads to punishment (Rev 20:11–15). 5:30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. Here Jesus continues his statement of verse 19, that he and the Father work in unison, not independently. In context, verse 30 continues the thought at the end of verse 29—that of judgment, (that is, the end of time judgment, following the resurrection). Jesus repeats the statement of verse 27, that this judgment is his prerogative, and that it will be just, for since the both knowledge he receives and the judgement he decides come from his Father. This perfect union is maintained as the result of Jesus’s absolute desire to do the will of his Father who ‘sent him’ (that is, in this context, ordained him to be judge of the living and the dead— see Acts 10:42; Rom 2:16; 2 Tim 4:1).
A Fourfold Witness 5:31–34 If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. (I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) The Old Testament scriptures affirmed that more than one witness was required to establish any matter as true (Deut 19:15; both Jesus and Paul reaffirm this principle for the church in Matt 18:16; 2 Cor 13:1). So, for the benefit of his hearers, Jesus names others who bear witness to the validity of his claims. First on the list is an allusion to God the Father: ‘another who testifies about me’. Christ will return to this point later, but pauses to mention John the Baptist as a reliable human witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John the Baptist if he was the Christ, he had clearly said no, but later when Jesus came to be baptized, John publicly affirmed him to be ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:19, 36). Here we see the rhetorical reason for Jesus’s pausing to mention John. Jesus’s point is that although John’s witness was true, and he intends for them to accept its validity and so be saved, he does not depend on the testimony of men to establish his credentials. 5:35–38 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light. But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete — the deeds I am now doing — testify about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time. Nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. Indeed, the people had, for a time, accepted John’s witness in terms of his clear message of repentance in preparation to receive the coming Christ. They now needed to just as enthusiastically accept the Christ of whom he spoke, for not only John but God the Father had testified of his legitimacy. In the first instance, the miracles God had worked through Jesus gave God’s own testimony concerning him. Not only so, but God had spoken in unique way about Jesus. When Jesus was baptized, God spoke by a voice from heaven (Matt 3:17). John’s Gospel does not record this, although it speaks of a similar incident in John 12:28, where John also explains (12:29) that the people could not comprehend God’s voice. At Sinai, the people of Israel had begged Moses to act as mediator, so that they would not hear God’s voice. At that time, God lamented that the people were not always in such awe of him (Deut 5:24–29). So here, Jesus tells the people that it is their hardness of heart in refusing to believe in him indicates that God’s word has found no place in their hearts; such unbelief is a form of deafness and
blindness, and this was the reason they could not hear or understand God’s message (Isa 6:9– 10; 2 Cor 4:4). 5:39–40 You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me. But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. Even though the people diligently studied the Scriptures, thinking that by doing so they would gain eternal life, they failed to comprehend them—for the Scriptures (our Old Testament) also bear witness to Jesus. This understanding of the Old Testament was an important theme in the early church (Luke 24:27; Acts 10:43; Rom 1:2), and virtually all the church’s theological themes are in some way developed from the Old Testament during this period. Yet the people refused the evidence of their own Scriptures, refusing to accept that Jesus was the one of whom these scriptures spoke, and failing to see that it was only through Jesus, not the Scriptures, that they could have eternal life. 5:41–42 I do not accept praise from people, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. It was not that Jesus sought their acceptance because he wanted their approval—he wanted them to accept him so that they might be saved. Verse 42 has another reference to Jesus knowing the hearts of all people (cf. John 2:24). Hence, he appreciates that his hearers do not have any love for God or any desire to truly know him. 5:43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. The staggering danger of opposing the truth, is that it makes one ready to believe the lie. Although Christ had come in his Father's name, with plenty of signs to attest this fact, they rejected Him. Jesus here shows keen understanding of the human condition, realizing that if someone else were to come ‘in his own name’, that is, without the power and authority of God (false teachers, false Christs) they will more readily accept their teachings (Mark 13:6, 22). It is not that Jesus has any particular false teacher in mind; his point is a more general one. The people would rather anyone else but Jesus; anything else but God’s will. It is true that throughout history, false teachers, false Christs and their religious cults have attracted considerable numbers of adherents. Yet it may be that Paul has this saying of Jesus in mind as he writes about one particularly successful false Christ—an antichrist with large following, who would be destroyed by the appearing of Christ at his Parousia (see 2 Thess 2:1–12).
5:44 How can you believe, if you accept praise from one another and don't seek the praise that comes from the only God? Here is another interesting insight into Jesus’s understanding of human nature. For Jesus, one cannot at the same time desire to be praised by the world (Matt 23:5), and yet be pleasing to God. There is a fundamental enmity against God in the heart of people that prevents them from coming to God—until it is removed by faith in Christ who reconciles us to God through his cross (Eph 2:16; Col 1:20), whilst at the same time crucifies to us from the world, making its standards alien to us (Gal 6:14). 5:45–47 Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe my words? Even though in this passage Jesus has spoken of his role as judge in the resurrection, yet he assures the people that he would not personally bring charges against them, despite their treatment of him. Jesus had already said that he had not come to judge the world but to save it (John 3:17; 12:47). Indeed, he had no reason to do so, for they were already condemned (John 3:18), having received the law of Moses and broken it (John 7:19). Thus, in this sense it is Moses, through whom God gave them the law, who would accuse them; for they had wrongly trusted that possession of the law was enough to deliver them, whereas it was only their obedience to the law that could do so. Moreover, they were condemned because although Moses had written of the Saviour, a Deliverer to come, they had not believed what Moses wrote concerning Christ (e.g. Gen 3:15; 49:10; Deut 18:15). If they do not believe the writings of Moses, how could they believe the words of Christ who came in fulfillment of all that Moses wrote. Barnes aptly applies the spirit of this teaching to our own time, with the words ‘Many men who profess to believe the Bible have really no regard for it when it crosses their own views and inclinations’. ©
Mathew
Bartlett
&
Derek
Williams
2017.
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