The Authority of Christ: Life, Death, and Judgment Explained (John 5:19-30)

Whenever we approach sacred Scripture, we breathe the breath of God. Listen carefully, and you will learn wisdom above the sages. So, let’s listen in and understand what Jesus is saying and what the Holy Spirit is teaching us.

From Healing to Hatred

When we last left off in Chapter 5 of John’s Gospel, we witnessed the healing of the invalid at the pool of Bethesda.

The Jewish leaders have confronted Jesus because He healed on the Sabbath. Their hatred is so unjust. I want to yell and scream at them to listen and see that here is the Son of God – the long-awaited Messiah.

There is more going on here than meets the eye.

So, I tell myself, “Instead of getting so frustrated with them, let’s stop to listen in with clear ears and open minds.”

What does the Holy Spirit want us to know?

Jesus is about the Father’s business.

He reveals the truth. He is the Son of God and equal to God. What the Father is doing, so is He. He does not take the initiative independently.

Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing; and He will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. John 5:19-20 NRSV.

One is the Father and the Son. The Son possesses the same power that created everything. The same power that delivered them from slavery and parted the Red Sea is there in Person. The same God who spoke through the prophets is present in the Son.

Here is their Messiah, and they knew it not!

He works on the Sabbath.

The Father rested from creation on the Sabbath and gave that day to us for our good. The Father works on the Sabbath. Children are born, the sun rises, and the animals find their food. If God stopped working on the Sabbath, then the world would stand still, and the air that we breathe would be no more.

So life and death are in the hands of the Father and the Son.

Life and Death

Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He wishes. John 5:20 NRSV.

The Holy Spirit has opened our eyes as we read these words. The deeper, more profound meaning is ours to grasp.

The Jewish people may have had the background, thoughts, ideas, theology, and scholarship, but we have the privilege of intimacy because we know and believe the Savior.

Life and death bow to the Son of God. Soon, the Son of God will raise people from the dead, and He Himself will come alive after death.

Jesus incarnate, bring the gentle, kind, and merciful God to life before our eyes. God gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth. Healing and salvation are at His fingertips.

Here is the Resurrection and the Life!

Honor the Father – Honor the Son

The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. John 5:22-23 NRSV.

I don’t know about you, but I keep looking over at the Jewish rulers and wondering at their ignorance. I would figure that the more He talks to them, the more they might see the truth.

They can’t handle the truth – they refuse to honor the Son.

They refuse to esteem Him and to show Him proper respect. Which one of them recognizes His authority? How many move to show Him profound respect mingled with love, devotion, and awe?

He will judge those who wrongfully judged Him on that day.

The Judge!

The merciful Judge is powerful to judge rightly.

Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. John 5:24 NRSV.

Only God can do such a thing as give eternal life, excuse from judgment, and allow a believer to pass from death to life.

Jesus is just and right. His judgment is pure and correct. He will carefully weigh all the evidence and test the truth in our lives. There are no excuses, no presuppositions, and no mistakes.

Jesus has the last word on Judgment Day.

Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself; and He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. John 5:25-27 NRSV

Okay, let’s say what the truth here is. There is a judgment coming for all humankind. Jesus, the Son of God, is the Judge.

Every pastor, evangelist, and teacher tries to make the voice of God heard. Those born once are like the walking dead, but when they honestly hear His voice and come to Him, He gives them eternal life. Can they listen to Him calling?

We were once dead and are now alive in Christ Jesus because we heard His voice and moved to believe. He is our salvation, and we live because He lives.

The authority of life, death, and judgment is in the Son. This is the truth. Who can handle it?

Kindness and love

The Holy Spirit moves us to see the truth. God, in His pure kindness and love, sent Jesus in human form so that we could hear His voice. Now, in the beauty of His mercy and grace, we pass from death to life.

See, the cleansing power of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit are real. We are blessed among all people, not because we call ourselves “Christian” but because we belong to Father God and He calls us His own.

The Judge has given the life sentence every sinner seeks – life eternal. We have passed from death to life.

Resurrection and Life

Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and will come out – those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. John 5:28-29 NRSV.

And so, we close this part of Chapter 5 by looking ahead to what will happen when Christ returns. All will rise again—some to eternal life and others to everlasting death.

On what side of that divide will you be?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:16 NRSV.

In Conclusion

There is so much truth here that my explanation feels so shallow.

On that day, as John tells us, the Jewish rulers hated their Messiah and refused to see the truth. The Holy Spirit allows us to know the truth, and we are better for it.

Even as you read these words, the Son is very active in the world. Lives are being changed and prepared for that soon-coming day when He returns.

Fifty-three years ago, I found the truth and walked into it. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. When God opens the books on Judgment Day, Jesus will see my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I hope yours will be there as well.

He is still about the Father’s business.

I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek to do not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. John 5:30 NRSV.