Bible Study series: John 5:19-30. Jesus does nothing on his own. He does what he sees the Father doing. This is a submissive Son in a close relationship with his Father.
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For the Greek text, click here:
At that link, I provide a lot more commentary.
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: John 5:19-30
19 Jesus then replied and said to them, “I tell you the firm truth: The Son is unable to do anything on his own, unless it is something he sees the Father doing, for the things that he does—the Son also does those things in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows to him everything that he himself is doing, and he will show him greater works than these, with the result that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises dead people and makes them alive, so also the Son will make alive those whom he wants. 22 For the Father in no way judges anyone but gives all judgment to his Son, 23 so that everyone may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father, and the one not honoring the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 I tell you the firm truth: the one hearing my message and believing the one who sent me has eternal life does not come into condemnation but has passed from death to life. 25 I tell you the firm truth: the hour is coming and now is here when dead people will hear the voice of the Son of God, and the ones hearing will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to pass judgment because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this because the hour is coming when those in their tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out: those doing good things to the resurrection of life, but the ones practicing wickedness to the resurrection of judgment.
30 I am unable to do anything on my own. 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.”
Comments
19:
Remember: Jesus is in Jerusalem, and the Jerusalem religious establishment—labeled as “the Jews,” was challenging him. He already gave an introduction to his close relationship with his Father in the previous pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or unit or section, and now he continues on with this teaching. He will end this pericope with the authority that the Father has given him—even to the point of judging everyone at the resurrection of the dead.
In vv. 19, 20, 21, 22, John uses the conjunction “for,” which means because. John is building a case. See if you can spot them and their significance.
“I tell you the firm truth”: it literally read, “amen, amen, I tell you.” Truth” comes from the word amēn (pronounced ah-main and comes into English as amen). In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) Jesus says amen only once (“amen, I tell you”), but in John he very often says the word twice, so I translate the double word as “firm truth.” It expresses the authority of the one who utters it. The Hebrew root ’mn means faithfulness, reliability and certainty. It could be translated as “Truly, truly I tell you” or “I tell you with utmost certainty.” (Bruce has “indeed and truly I tell you”). Jesus’s faith in his own words is remarkable and points to his unique calling. It means we must pay attention to it, for it is authoritative. He is about to declare an important and solemn message or statement. The clause appears only on the lips of Jesus in the NT.
“unable”: this is what the Greek literally says. This does not deny his free will, but it speaks of his total surrender to his Father. I say we should not over-analyze it. This verse shows the Son’s close connection to the Father and his listening to his Father’s instructions, as Jesus moved forward in his ministry. The Son was unable to work his powerful ministry without his Father and the power and anointing of the Spirit, but he needed both the Father and the Spirit’s anointing (Acts 10:38). What the Father does, the Son does in like manner. So we see the First and Third Persons of the Trinity in cooperation with the Second Person of the Trinity, now in human form. This is why we can never abandon the doctrine of the Trinity. It’s the fullest revelation of who God truly is.
20:
This verse about the Father loving his Son reminds me of his baptism recorded in the Synoptic Gospels:
16 And being baptized, Jesus instantly got up out of the water, and look! Heaven opened up to him and he saw the Spirit of God coming down as a dove and coming upon him. 17 And listen! A voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight!” (Matt. 3:16-17)
Jesus is simply repeating what he knows in his heart. He is his Father beloved Son, and his Father delights in him. It is the verb agapaō (pronounced ah-gah-pah-oh, and the noun is agapē, pronounced ah-gah-pay), and it means total commitment or giving oneself over to something or someone.
Some teach that Jesus is hinting at his relationship with his earthly father, Joseph. Joseph showed Jesus growing up how to do a trade. And Jesus says the same of his heavenly Father about his Son’s ministry. I really like this idea. But you can make of it what you will.
So now the Father shows his Son what the Father is doing, like healing an ill or lame man on the Sabbath. But the Jerusalem establishment will see greater works than these. This refers to the Son’s resurrection and exaltation and his Father-given role as judge (v. 21). The dead will hear his voice and come out of their tombs (v. 28).
Mounce: “The Jews were simply unprepared for the tremendous truth about to be revealed to them. Even if well-intentioned, their habit of reducing God to a set of ritual requirements severely stunted their spiritual faculties” (comment on v. 20).
21:
And here are some greater works. The Father raises up or resurrects dead people and makes them alive, and the Son also makes them alive. The context is judgment after a general resurrection, but can we exclude people’s souls and spirits being raised from the dead when they are born again? Carson says that the “greater works” are the whole redemptive work of Christ (comment on v. 21). Also see v. 25.
22-23:
There is a purpose for the Father giving judgment to the Son. He gives the Son all judgment so that everyone may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. So once again, the connection between Father and Son is so tight that the ones who honor the Son in effect honors the Father, and the opposite is true. If they do not honor the Son, they do not honor the Father who sent him. Jesus was commissioned by the Father. Those who challenge his ability to heal on the Sabbath dos not realize what they are talking about. The Father has sent Jesus, who obeys and listens to his the one who sent him. This commissioning goes so far that he will judge people, including the Jerusalem establishment. Implication: his critics do not have the right to judge him, for he will turn the tables and judge them. And if they dishonor the Son, then they dishonor God.
7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession. (Ps. 2:7-8, NIV)
Now it is Jesus who will judge everyone, God transferring this role to his Son. High Christology, indeed.
Commentator f. F. Bruce:
An ambassador receives honour due to the sovereign whom he represents; dishonour to the ambassador is an insult to his sovereign. The Son is the Father’s envoy plenipotentiary [invested with full power]. The Father bestows the authority and the Son exercises it; the Father sends and the Son is sent. Yet so completely one are the Father and the Son, so perfectly does the Son manifest the Father, that no one can at the same time refuse the Son’s claims and pay honour to the Father. Jesus’ opponents thought they could do this very thing, but they were mistaken (comments on vv. 22- 23)
24:
Now Jesus emphatically tells the Jerusalem establishment how much authority he has from another angle. Anyone who listens to his message and believing in the one who sent him is so privileged that he will be granted eternal life.
“the one hearing” could be rendered “whoever hears.” The call of the gospel goes out to everyone, and each one has the potential to accept it if they exercise their faith, but unfortunately many do not exercise their faith to be saved.
“eternal life”: this is more than mere existence. This is life of the next age, that age, which has broken into this age or right now. In other words, eternal life happens now, but we must be careful not to believe that everything in the new age, in everlasting life, is happening now. This is called over-realized eschatology (study of ends times and new ages). Not every new-age blessing becomes realized or accomplished right now. But let’s not remain negative. We get some benefits of the next age or new age right now. We get some benefits of eternal life, right now.
5 The Kingdom of God: Already Here, But Not Yet Fully
“life”: this is more than mere existence. This is life of the next age, that age, which has broken into this age or right now. The next age has broken into this age and given us new life. It is eternal life right now.
The disciple not coming to judgment means the verdict of condemnation because the follower of Jesus has passed from death to life. This may also speak of going from spiritually dead to spiritually alive:
Paul sees the same thing as John does and writes:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus …. (Eph. 2:1-6, NIV)
Jesus has power to raise your dead souls in you, while you live in your bodies, to a brand new life. This is like being born again (John 3:3, 5; Titus 3:5).
“As Jesus spoke a word and an invalid who lays helpless by the pool of Bethesda rose and walked away, now he speaks a word and spiritual invalids who respond in faith rise up and enter into ‘eternal life’” (Mounce, comment on v. 24).
Everyone will be judged by their works and words.
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
25:
Once again, Jesus uses the clause “I tell you the firm truth.” See v. 19 for more comments. He means business.
The hour is coming and now is that when the dead people hearing the voice of the Son will live as they hear it. Once again, this involves the rising from spiritual death to new life in Christ. We can be born again and live again. Jesus is blending eternal life—life of the next age with our age and lives right now. Life of the next age—eternal life—can impact us right now. We can come alive by the Father’s will, if we listen to his voice. In the Son, a new age is dawning, and we can get those living benefits right now—or right when Jesus spoke these words two thousand years ago until right now (Is. 55:3).
In v. 24 I quoted Eph. 2:1-6. Mounce seems to agree: “Jesus is bringing eternal life to believers right now. It is not something that lies well into the future following a time of judgment. To live involves a radical transformation of one’s entire existence” (comment on v. 25).
26:
Make no mistake, the Son’s life on earth is derivative of the Father. This shows the relationship between the Father and the Son. The Son has been granted life in himself. This life goes all the way to and through the resurrection and ascension. See v. 19 for more comments.
Do we have the humility to acknowledge that we have new life through the Son and the Father? If not, we are self-deceived and have broken souls, and our arrogance will eventually cause our own downfall. We will wear ourselves out living in the cosmos (world).
27:
“Son of Man”: It both means the powerful, divine Son of Man (Dan. 7:13-14) and the human son of man—Ezekiel himself—in the book of Ezekiel (numerous references). Jesus was and still is in heaven both divine and human. It could be rightly translated as Son of Humanity.
4. Titles of Jesus: The Son of Man
Since Jesus is the Son of Man, he will be exalted. Note these verses from Dan. 7:13-14:
13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Dan. 7:13-14, NIV)
The Ancient of Days is God. Jesus was about to ascend and be enthroned on high, sitting next to God. When Jesus is enthroned as the Son of Man, in all his glory, he will be granted the authority to pass judgment and render verdicts and impose final sentences.
28-29:
Now Jesus shifts the scene to the future—the hour is coming—but he does not say “and now is” in these verses. Those doing good works will go into the resurrection of life. In contrast, those doing wickedness will go into the resurrection of judgment / condemnation. Let’s pause right here. We shall be judged by our good and bad deeds. Please don’t ignore this biblical truth.
Once again:
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
Now we can add that those who are born again by the Spirit of God enter the Father’s and his Son’s kingdom (John 3:3, 5), so it does not depend only on our good or bad works.
Are There Degrees of Punishment, Rewards after Final Judgment?
The resurrection of the righteous and wicked happen at the same time, on the last day. Then after judgement, the new Messianic Age is fully ushered in and implemented. This is not complicated, despite the best efforts of (usually) American Bible teachers to (wrongly) turn it into a massive, complicated teaching.
Here is a diagram of simplicity itself:
First Coming → Church Age ——————→ Second Coming
The first coming is his birth and ministry and life. You could swap out “Church Age” and insert “This Age,” as distinct from the New Messianic Age, which is ushered in right after the Second Coming and the judgement of the righteous and the wicked at the same time, which Jesus clearly teaches here. When Jesus came the first time and was in the process of inaugurating the kingdom of God, the kingdom came subtly and mysteriously. When he comes a second time, his inaugurated kingdom will be fully accomplished.
Like this:
First Coming → This Age ————→ Second Coming → Judgment → Messianic Age
During the time of This Age, the kingdom is working behind the scenes and in people’s hearts and wherever the gospel of the kingdom is preached. At the Second Coming, That Age begins.
Then the Kingdom which Jesus inaugurated at his first coming will have been fully realized and accomplished.
So now let’s add more elements. The Bible fully teaches this flow chart—the Bible in its fullness:
First Coming → This Age & Inaugurated Kingdom ———→ Second Coming → Judgment → Fully Realized Kingdom Age
So we now live in the conflict and battle between This Age and the Inaugurated Kingdom, proclaimed by Jesus during his ministry. (They are not the same things but are at war with each other!) We are in the process of binding Satan and his demonic hordes, by expelling demons from people’s lives but mainly by preaching the gospel, so people surrender to the Son’s Lordship, and then Satan is pushed back and people experience victory in their lives. The gospel and life in the Spirit are so powerful that saved and redeemed people can experience victory over the power of sin in their lives. The presence of sin in their lives is not removed until they get their new resurrected and transformed bodies.
Posttribulational Premillennialism?
What Is Midtribulational Premillennialism?
What Is Pretribulational Premillennialism?
In John 5:28-29 and Matt. 13:41-43 and 25:31-46 Jesus talks about judgment in the above diagrams.
Bible Basics about the Final Judgment
Rapture = Second Coming and Happen at Same Time and on Last Day
But in these eschatological (end-time) discussions:
“In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity (love).”
We should not lose fellowship with those with whom we differ in eschatological matters.
Now let’s move on.
As for Jesus’s followers being judged by works, Klink reminds us of John 6:29, which says that the work of God is to believe in the one who sent Jesus. That’s true, but there are too many other verses which teach that believers will be judged by their works and words. Once again, see this post:
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
30:
Jesus sums up this section with a reinforcement of his assigned role to judge everyone. His judgment will be just because he does not seek his own will but the will of the Father who sent him. So the Jerusalem establishment has now received fair warning. They need to show much more humility than they are currently doing. But of course they won’t. They will end up crucifying him. Then they will be subjected to his final judgment, as the Father exalts his Son at the resurrection and vindicates him with the ascension. Then he will carry out the role of judgment in the Father’s time and according to the Father’s will.
GrowApp for John 5:19-30
1. How have you passed from death to life? What does this involve?
2. How do you make it into the resurrection to life?
RELATED
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
12. Eyewitness Testimony in John’s Gospel
4. Church Fathers and John’s Gospel
3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
For the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 