Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In the larger passage containing the verses cited in the question, Jesus was referring both to events at the time that He was speaking, and at the time of His return in glory at the close of the present age.

At the beginning of John 5, Jesus had healed a paralyzed man (who was lying on a mat by the pool of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem) by telling the man to get up, pick up the straw mat on which he had been lying, and walk. (The day on which this healing took place was the Jewish Sabbath.)

As the healed man was walking around carrying his mat, he was confronted by some of the Jewish religious authorities, who regarded his act of carrying his mat as the performance of work that was not permitted on the Sabbath, which God had designated as a day of rest. When the man said that Jesus had both healed him, and then had told him to pick up his mat, the religious authorities also accused Jesus of violating the Sabbath.

Jesus responded to their accusations by saying that, in healing the paralyzed man, He was doing the same work on the Sabbath that God (whom Jesus indicated was His Father) was doing (through acts of goodness and mercy such as making the sun to rise on both the good and the evil, or sending rain to both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45)).

(Later in John's gospel (John 7:21-24), Jesus referred back to this incident by pointing out that God's commandment to circumcise a male child on the eighth day of his life (Genesis 17:10; Leviticus 12:3) was carried out by the Jewish authorities, even if that day fell on the Sabbath, and then saying that He therefore also had the right to perform God's work by healing on the Sabbath.)

(This was similar to other incidents in the gospels where Jesus exposed the selective legalism, hypocrisy, and misplaced values of those who condemned Him for healing on the Sabbath by reminding them that they themselves would not hesitate to rescue a sheep that they owned if it fell into a pit on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9-14), or to lead an ox or donkey that they owned to water for them to drink on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17); or by noting to them that it was always lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-6).)

In addition, Jesus said that He was carrying out His Father's will by bestowing not just physical healing (as with the paralyzed man), but also spiritual healing on those who had been spiritually dead, but who placed their faith in Him and in His message, which made them pass from death to life.

Jesus then told His listeners (in the verses cited in the question) not to marvel at Him or accuse Him of blasphemy based on His claim to give eternal life, because He would provide an even greater proof of His authority when He returns at the close of the present age, when He will call all the dead to rise, and they will be resurrected from their graves to face judgment, which (as Jesus had noted in John 5:22) God the Father had fully entrusted to Jesus. As a result of this judgment, the unsaved will receive God's condemnation, while those who are redeemed through faith in Christ will live eternally in God's presence.

(Subsequently, In John 11, Jesus gave further proof of His authority and power of which He had spoken by raising Lazarus from the dead through His verbal command (John 11:43-44).)

March 12 2018 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church

I like the hymn titled "The Resurrection Morn" (Hymn)

"In the resurrection morning
We shall hear the trumpet sound;-- (This wonderful truth is explained in
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15.)
Christ will come in white adorning,
With majestic glory crowned."

2 "In the resurrection morning,
Time will end forever here,
And the records we are making,
At the judgment shall appear;
All our mortal life below,
Must determine where we’ll go,
Home above, or down to woe, -- [The tasks assigned to Jesus (John 5:21-22, 24-29) are the impartation of life: He imparts eternal life (John 5:21, 24, 26), and the raising of the departed. Jesus will raise the dead (John 5:25, 28-29), some to everlasting joy (John 5:25, 28-29a) but others to everlasting punishment (John 5:29b)]
In the resurrection morn." [Refrain]

4 "Then He’ll say unto the righteous:
'Come, ye blessed, live for aye,
In the brightest realms of glory,
Where there shines one lasting day';
Turning to the lost He’ll say:
'There in outer darkness stay,
You have trifled time away'—
Sinner, this is your reward." [Refrain]-- Matthew 25:34; 22:13

Source: Timeless Truths #451
Jn 5:29. resurrection of life—means a resurrection to life everlasting (Mt 25:46).
…of damnation—It would have been harsh to say “the resurrection of death,” though that is meant, for sinners rise from death to death [BENGEL]. The resurrection of both classes is an exercise of sovereign authority; but in the one case, it is an act of grace, in the other of justice. (Compare Da 12:2, from which the language is taken).—the resurrection of damnation (Jn 5:29). How awfully grand are these unfoldings of His dignity and authority from the mouth of Christ Himself! And they are all in the third person; in what follows He resumes the first person.

Jesus will enact the future-day physical resurrection—“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live... Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice” (Jn. 5:25, 28). “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life” (Jn. 5:29a). This would be the resurrection of the saved.

And Jesus will enact the resurrection of the unsaved—“And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man” (Jn. 5:27). “And they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (Jn. 5:29b). It’s a two-fold resurrection: as described by both Daniel the prophet and John the apostle. 

“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2).

August 16 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Grant Abbott Child of Father, Follower of Son, Student of Spirit

All human beings are destined to die once and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Jesus commanded us to preach to all the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). For God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man [Jesus Christ] he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead (Acts 17:31).

Matthew 25:31-46
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Summary
A judgment day is coming for all human beings, dead or alive.
Jesus has been appointed the judge by God in heaven
Jesus will judge all believers in him and reward them for their good deeds with eternal life
Jesus will judge all unbelievers and punish them for their evil and wickedness with eternal fire in hell

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favour I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” We tell you, now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation.

August 17 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report