The Son of Man and the Resurrection of the Dead; John 5:27-29

 

²⁷ And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

 

The Son of Man’s Authority to Judge (v. 27)

 

In verse 26 we saw that the Father granted the Son to have life in himself. Now in verse 27 we see that the Father has also given the Son authority to execute judgment. I’ve mentioned it before, but we see it very clearly in the great commission in Matthew 28 where Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” Also more broadly in John 3:35, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands.” But what is maybe a bit perplexing about verse 27 is the fact that it says the Father has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Jesus of course is truly God and truly man – the Son of God and the Son of Man. But how is being the Son of Man, being born of the virgin Mary, entering human flesh, the basis for giving authority to execute judgment? We would think that the status as Son of God would be that basis. Well, the basis for being given authority to judge is not by virtue of being born a man, but by virtue of being the prophetic messianic Son of Man in Daniel 7:13-14:

¹³ “I saw in the night visions,

 

If you read modern dispensational premillennialists, they wrongly interpret this passage to be concerning the second coming. But just look at the text. The Son of Man is coming with the clouds, and where’s He going? He’s not coming to earth, He’s going to the Ancient of Days. He’s ascending to Heaven, not descending to Earth. This is a vision of the ascension of Christ. Upon His ascension He is given dominion, glory, and a Kingdom that is everlasting, will not be destroyed, and shall not pass away, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. Jesus Christ is on His throne today, He is reigning right now, that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s over the earth in time and history, and that all should bow the knee to Him. We are not waiting for Jesus to return again in order for Him to take His throne – He already rules and reigns, and is seated in Heaven and in the hearts of His people, present in the church, ruling the nations, and directing the affairs of this world. During Jesus’ ministry He came preaching the Kingdom of God and we enter into His Kingdom through faith, in the new birth.

So what’s all this to do with the authority He was given to execute judgment? It has everything to do with it. What does an enthroned King do? He rules and reigns. He makes judgments and executes judgments. So we could say that the Father has given Jesus the authority to execute judgments because He is the Son of Man who ascended to the throne and sat down as the rightful King of Kings.

The Son of Man theme doesn’t only concern his authority to judge, but it’s also a good connection to the resurrection of the dead. When was it that Christ ascended? After dying and rising again. Indeed it was upon Christ’s resurrection and ascension that He ascended up on the clouds to the Ancient of Days to receive His Kingdom, indeed to receive authority to execute judgment – who is in the Kingdom, who is out. The fact that the Son of Man defeated death and rose to the throne guarantees that when He says we will rise again, we will.

 

 

Remember, Jesus hasn’t left the context into which He is speaking to the Jews who are upset that He healed on the Sabbath and makes Himself equal with God. The authority to judge in the way in which Jesus speaks is a divine authority. The Jews would’ve understood that a mere human does not have the authority to raise the dead and judge them, determining their eternal fate – that judgment authority belongs to God and God alone. This is yet another divine claim that Jesus makes.

Jesus can raise the dead to the resurrection of life because He has life in himself (v. 26), and he can raise the wicked to condemnation because all judgment has been put in his hand, by the Father himself. Even though at this point in John 5 Jesus hasn’t ascended to heaven, He can still truly say that He has been given this authority, for He is truly in possession of it; just like though we will die, we can still say that we have eternal life – for we are truly in possession of it.

 

The Son of Man’s Power to Judge (v. 28)

 

Not only does the Son have authority to judge, but He has the power to judge. Not only does He have the right to judge those who have done good and those who have done evil on resurrection day, but He also has the power to raise the dead on that day.

Indeed, it is by His voice that He will raise the dead. “…an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out…” If you think it is amazing, and you should, because it is, that Jesus made a lame man walk on the Sabbath, just wait till the day when the graves open up upon His command and the dead come out, obeying His voice. 

The voice of the Son has power and authority to give spiritual life; so also He has power and authority to raise the dead on the last day. It was by His voice, divine speech, that the world was created – “Let there be light” – and there was light. It is by the word of His power that He continually holds all things together. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. The fact that we are here together and surrounded by creation and matter, is because God is speaking all of it into existence and it continues to exist because He continues to speak it. But when we sin, we die. Death is the great curse for sin. Death comes for us all. We cannot escape it. But although we cannot escape death, death cannot escape Jesus Christ. Every soul that death takes, will be given right back to Jesus as soon as He says so, without hesitation.

Dead people obey the voice of Jesus. No matter how much you rebel against your Maker in this life, there is not one person who will disobey His command to rise on the last day. One day, everyone will obey Jesus. You don’t want your first act of obedience to be coming out of the grave on the last day. But for some it will be. Of course a terrifying thing for the ungodly, and a joyous time for those in Christ.

 

The Son of Man’s Justice to Judge (v. 29-30)

 

Not only does Christ have the authority and power to judge, but He also just in His judgments. He is just to give life and He is just to condemn who He will. 

The Two Voices of the Son of Man

 

Those who have done good, resurrect to the resurrection of life. The Bible is very practical. What are you doing? What are you doing with your life? What seeds are you sowing? God will not be mocked – you will reap what you sow.

Of course this is not saying that we resurrect to life on the basis of our good works – they are not the foundation or the root of our eternal life. When Jesus says, “those who have done good” will rise to the resurrection of life, He is giving a characteristic description of someone who has experienced the spiritual resurrection. If you experience the spiritual resurrection as described in Ephesians 2, you will also walk in the good works which God prepared beforehand for us to do as described also in Ephesians 2. Jesus is pointing out believers by good works.

Friends, how joyful and comforting it will be to hear the voice of your Savior telling you to come out of the tomb on that day. How comforting a thought that the voice that will call us to rise will be the voice of One who loves us. If we die in Christ, we will rise in Him. If we die in Christ, the all powerful judge who has defeated death, is our friend. We will not be freed from the chains of death to heavier chains by a greater foe; but we will be freed from death to be with The One who gave Himself for us. Of course as Christians, when we die, we will immediately be with Christ, but we are speaking here of the final resurrection. No sweeter words will our ears hear than the call to come out of the grave and be with the Lover of our souls.

 

 

But friends, when the Son of Man calls upon the graves to open up, all within them will not hear sweet words spoken by their Savior. The wicked, those who die outside of Christ, will hear fierce words of justice from the Judge of all the Earth. It will not be a moment of comfort, but a trembling of terror. They will hear the voice of the one whom they rejected, mocked, and refused, and they will be out of time to do those things anymore. The voice of justice is a terror to those who do evil. All of their sins and rebellion will wash over them and haunt them. There will be no relief from the terror of that day for the wicked.

A. W. Pink says this about those that have done evil: “They refused to hearken to Him while He spoke words of grace and truth, but then they shall be compelled to hear Him as He utters the dread summons for them to appear before the great white throne.” The terror of going to hell, as I deserved, haunted me for years of my childhood, but peace I found in Christ, and I know that on that day when He tells my dead body to rise it will be a day of overwhelming joy. Oh that you would hear the voice of the Savior calling you today to rise from your sins and come to Him and receive His forgiveness and righteousness! Hearing the voice of the Savior granting pardon to you today, is the only way in which you will the voice of a Savior on resurrection day.

 

Application

Living With the Resurrection in View

 

I want you to prepare and be prepared for the resurrection of the dead. Because that includes you. You will die, and you will rise again, either to judgement or to eternal life.

 

• Knowing we will rise to judgment and give an account can help us remember to watch our lives.

• Knowing we will rise again and be judged, we will throw ourselves on the good works of Christ (because ours won’t be good enough).

• This is a warning to those who do evil (there is no second chance).

• Death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you, if you are in Christ (for you will live again).

If death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you – how will you live? Since death isn’t the worst thing to happen to us…

• We can obey God no matter what.

• We can embrace aging for the glory of God and good of others.

 

Age is a reminder of death and mortality and is a terror for the ungodly. It is a reminder of sin and its curse. The ungodly do not like to be reminded of death. But for the godly it reminds us that we’ve been forgiven of our sins and set free from the curse and that one day we will rise again and receive glorified bodies that will never die. For the godly, aging is wisdom and honor. We ought to age with dignity, embracing each stage of life as it comes, for it comes from God’s hand. The wisdom and honor given in time and age is not meant for self-exaltation, but for the good of others. Christians with clear skin need Christians with wrinkly and sagging skin. Christians with brown, blonde, and red hair, need Christians with gray hair and no hair. If death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to us, we won’t spend our time and our money trying to cover up the fact that we are getting closer to death. Instead we will be preparing for death, and helping the young to prepare also for death, teaching them how to age, and how gray hair is honor. We don’t have to chase the fountain of youth because we are going to rise again.

 

• Women can give up themselves to bring children into the world – like Christ.

• Men can be men and protect their families, churches, and communities with our lives – like Christ.

• Funerals can be comforting.

 

I saw this quote this week, and it was quite providential to the passage this week. It’s a quote by John Ryland. John Ryland was an English Particular Baptist in the 17 and 18 hundreds. He was one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society, which famously sent William Carey to India. Anyway, John Ryland said this at the burial of another English Particular Baptist Andrew Gifford, “Farewell, thou dear old man! We leave thee in possession of Death until the Resurrection Day. But we will bear witness against thee, O King of terrors, at the mouth of this dungeon – thou shalt not always have possession of this dead body. It shall be demanded of thee by the great Conqueror, and at that moment thou shalt resign thy prisoner. O ye ministers of Christ, ye people of God, ye surrounding spectators, prepare! Prepare to meet this old servant of Christ at that day, that hour when this whole place shall be nothing but life, and death shall be swallowed up in victory.”

 

Conclusion

 

Christ’s resurrection guarantees ours.

Our spiritual resurrection guarantees that we will rise again to life, and not condemnation. As Calvin says, “…Indeed, when Christ now, by the voice of his gospel, quickens souls which had been sunk in perdition, it is a sort of preparation for the last resurrection.”

So how do we rise again? By rising now. We rise again by being born again. We believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and receive His merits for eternal life. Repenting of our lives, and taking on His. And should we be His by faith, it guaranteed that since we have died with Christ, we also will rise with Him.