The Son gives life to the dead. Verse 21 says, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wills.” In verse 24 we see that whoever hears the word of the Son and believes in Him who sent Him has eternal life and has passed out of death into life. Verse 25 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live.” The dead persons mentioned in this verse are not those who are buried in their graves, but the living dead ones. They are not dead physically, but, according to Ephesians 2:1-5 and Colossians 2:13, are dead in their spirit. In the eyes of the Lord, all of the people living on earth are dead in their spirit. The phrase, “An hour is coming and now is,” refers to the very time when the Lord spoke these words. Many at that time heard His living words and consequently were made alive. Hence, “shall live” in this verse means to be alive in their spirit. It is not the resurrection in the physical body as is mentioned in verses 28 and 29. For twenty centuries, from the time that the Lord spoke these words until the present, thousands and thousands of people have heard the living voice of the Son of God and have been enlivened with life. We also have heard the living word of the Lord and have been made alive. We also were the impotent persons under the five porches, for we were blind, lame, and withered. In short, we were dead. Then the Lord came to visit us, and we heard the living word of the gospel that enlivened us and made us alive. We have truly passed out of death and have entered into life.
In the matter of life the Son is the same as the Father. “As the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself” (5:26). Both the Father and the Son have life in themselves. So the Son can and does enliven people with life as the Father desires. In life’s enlivening, the Son is truly one with the Father.
The Son of Man will execute judgment over all the unbelieving ones (5:22-23, 27, 30). As the Son of God (5:25), the Lord can give life (5:21), and as the Son of Man, He can execute judgment (5:27). Since He is a man, He is fully qualified to judge man. Acts 17:31 says that God will judge the world “by that man [Jesus] whom he hath ordained.” Romans 2:16 says, “God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.” Second Timothy 4:1 says, “Jesus Christ shall judge the quick and the dead.” The Father “gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man” (5:27). And the Father gave all judgment to the Son “that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (5:22-23). The Son will judge justly according to the Father’s will (5:30). He is one with the Father in the matter of life’s enlivening. He is also one with Him in the matter of judgment.
Let us read verses 28 and 29. “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth: those who have done the good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done the evil to the resurrection of judgment.” All of the physically dead people who have been buried in graves will be resurrected. Please note the difference between these two verses and verse 25. In verse 25, the dead shall hear His voice, but in verse 28 all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice. Those who are in the tombs are different from those who are dead. Verse 25 refers to the dead living on the earth; verse 28 refers to the dead buried in the earth. Those buried in their graves shall be resurrected at the Lord’s second coming.
In addition to the resurrection in the spirit which we saw in verse 25, verse 29 distinguishes two kinds of physical resurrections. The resurrection in our spirit means that our spirit is made alive. This is also regeneration in our spirit. The regeneration in our spirit is a resurrection made by the Lord Jesus with the divine life, which is Himself. In addition to this, there are two kinds of physical resurrections. The “resurrection of life” is the resurrection of the saved believers before the millennium (the thousand years, Rev. 20:4, 6; 1 Cor. 15:23, 52; 1 Thes. 4:16). The dead believers will be resurrected to enjoy eternal life at the return of the Lord Jesus. Hence, it is called the resurrection of life. When the Lord Jesus comes back, all His dead believers will be resurrected and will be taken up with the living believers to the air (1 Thes. 4:17). Then the overcoming believers will reign as kings with the Lord Jesus for a thousand years. The “resurrection of judgment” refers to the resurrection of the unbelievers after the thousand years (Rev. 20:5, 12). All the dead unbelievers will be resurrected after the thousand years to be judged at the Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11-15). Hence, it is called the resurrection of judgment. We, the believers, will enjoy and participate in the resurrection of life, but the unbelievers will suffer the judgment of eternal perdition at the resurrection of judgment.
In 5:31-47 we see the Son’s fourfold testimony: the testimony of John the Baptist (vv. 32-35); the testimony of the Son’s work (v. 36); the testimony of the Father (vv. 37-38); and the testimony of the Scriptures (vv. 39-47). It is possible to have these four witnesses and yet not have Christ Himself. The Jews at one time were joyful over John the Baptist, but they did not realize that he was only the witness of Christ. The testimony of John the Baptist was to direct them to Christ. The Jews also saw the works of Christ, yet they would not come to Him. They saw His signs, miracles, and wonders, but they would not realize who the Lord was and come to Him. The Father testified concerning the Son, but they did not have His word abiding in them, for they did not believe the Son whom He sent. They even searched the Scriptures that testified of Him, but they failed to come to Him that they might have eternal life.
To “search the Scriptures” may be separated from “come to Me.” The Jewish religionists searched the Scriptures, but were not willing to come to the Lord. These two should be kept together. Since the Scriptures testify concerning the Lord, they should not be separated from Him. We may contact the Scriptures and yet not contact the Lord. Only the Lord can give life. We should never separate the Scriptures from the Lord Himself. Whenever we search the Word, we must come to the Lord Himself. We must make searching the Word and touching the Lord one thing. Whenever we study the Bible, we must open our spirit to the Lord. While our eyes are reading the words and our mind is understanding them, our spirit must be exercised to contact the Lord through the Scriptures. Then we shall not only have the understanding of the black and white letters in our mentality, but also have the life in our spirit.
All of the signs, manifestations, and gifts are merely witnesses by which we may contact Christ. The problem is that people today have the testimonies, but fail to contact the Lord Himself. It is possible to have the signs, the manifestations, the gifts, and the knowledge of the Scriptures, but not come to contact the Lord Himself. It is only the Lord Himself who will give you life. It is not the signs, the gifts, or even the Scriptures, but it is the Lord Himself who will enliven you and impart life into you.
Once more I want to stress the point that the Apostle John shows all of these cases to indicate man’s real condition and to reveal Christ as our life supply. In the first case, we were good persons; in the second, sinful persons; in the third, dying persons; and in the fourth, impotent persons. In the first case, the Lord is our regenerating life; in the second, our satisfying life; in the third, our healing life; and in the fourth, our enlivening life. By understanding these four cases, we can realize where we are and who we are, and we can know where the Lord is and who He is. Then we shall know what we need and what the Lord will supply to us.