John 5:21

(21) The following verses (Joh_5:21-29) show what these greater works are. They are the Resurrection and the judgment; but these are regarded as spiritual as well as physical, as present as well as future. Once again the background of the thought is to be found in Joh_5:17. Resurrection and Judgment were the work of the Father—“My Father worketh hitherto;” but the manifestation in limits of space and time is the work of the Son—“and I work.”

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them.—The “them” after “quickeneth” is better omitted. The words are purposely general. Raising the dead and making alive are attributes of God. “He kills and He makes alive” (Deu_32:39). “He bringeth down to the underworld and bringeth up” (1Sa_2:6; Tob_13:2). “He has the power of life and death” (Wis_16:13). These the Son seeth the Father doing, and these also He doeth in like manner. He, too, has the power to quicken whom He will, and He useth that power. Deadened souls have felt it, and are living in the new-born life. There is in His word, for the man who hears it and believes it, a moral change which is nothing other than an actual passing out of death into life (Joh_5:24).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 5:21-23. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, &c. — Here he declares what are those greater works, namely, raising the dead and judging the world. These two, quickening and judging, are proposed, Joh 5:21-22. The acquittal of believers, which presupposes judgment, is treated of in Joh 5:24; the quickening some of the dead, Joh 5:25; and the general resurrection, Joh 5:28. For the Father judgeth no man — Without the Son; but he doth judge by that man whom he hath ordained, Act 17:31. That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father — Honour him as the Maker, Upholder, Redeemer, Saviour, Governor, and Judge of the world, and that either willingly, by yielding to him the homage of faith, love, and obedience, and so escaping condemnation, and attaining eternal life; or unwillingly, and so feeling the wrath of the Judge. This demonstrates the equality, or sameness, rather, of the Godhead of the Son and the Father. If our Lord were God only by office, or investiture, and not in the unity of the divine essence, he would not be honoured even as, that is, with the same honour as that wherewith the Father is honoured. He that honoureth not the Son — With the same equal honour, greatly dishonoureth the Father which sent him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:21 Most Jews firmly believed in resurrection but viewed it as something God alone could accomplish. Jesus claimed that he gives life.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 5:21. Γάρ, for) He declares what are those greater works: quickening and judging. From His judicial power flows His unlimited authority in quickening whom He will, and at what time He will. Weigh well the γάρ, for, Joh 5:22, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” But the quickening of the dead is a proof of His judicial power, which does not as yet come before men’s eyes. “Weigh well the γάρ, for, Joh 5:21: and so quickening the dead raises men’s admiration in a greater degree than judging does. These two, quickening and judging, are set before us at Joh 5:21-22; and, in inverse order by χιασμός, at Joh 5:24 is discussed the exemption of believers from condemnation, which itself presupposes a judgment: at Joh 5:25 is discussed the restoration to life of some of the dead; marvellous indeed, but however so as that the general resurrection, Joh 5:28, is to exceed this marvel.—ἐγείρει, raiseth up) This double-membered sentence has this force: Just as the Father raises up the dead (whom He will), and quickens them: so also the Son (raises up the dead) whom He will, (and) quickens them.—νεκρούς, the dead) in body: for the death of the body is properly opposed to disease [alluding to the infirmity of the impotent man], Joh 5:5: and life eternal, into which an entrance is gained through the resurrection of the body, is opposed to the judgment, Joh 5:22.—οὕς θέλει, whom He will) Never does the effect fail to follow His will. A universal assertion, as Joh 5:22-23.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_5:21. Jesus now specifies these μείζονα ἔργα, namely, the quickening of the dead, and judgment (Joh_5:21-30); ἔργα accordingly is a broader conception than miracle, which, however, is included in the category of the Messianic ἔργα. See especially Joh_5:36.

Joh_5:21. He speaks of the operation of His power in judging and raising the dead, first in an ethical sense down to Joh_5:27, and then, Joh_5:28-29, subjoins the actual and universal awakening of the dead as the completion of His entire life-giving and judicial work as the Messiah. Augustine anticipated this view (though illogically apprehending Joh_5:21 in a moral sense, and Joh_5:22 in a physical), and it is adopted among the older writers, especially by Rupertius, Calvin, Jansen, Calovius, Lampe, and more recently by Liicke, Tholuck, Olshausen, Maier, de Wette, Lange, Hilgenfeld, Lechler, Apost. Zeitalt. p. 225 f., Weiss, Godet. Others have extended the ethical interpretation even as far as Joh_5:28-29 (so Deysing in the Bibl. Brem. i. 6, Eckermann, Ammon, and many others; recently, Schweizer, B. Crusius, Reuss), which, however, is forbidden by the language and contents of Joh_5:28-29; see on Joh_5:28-29. Further, when Luthardt (comp. Tholuck on Joh_5:21-23, and Hengstenberg on Joh_5:21-24, also Brückner on Joh_5:21) understands ζωοποιεῖν generally of the impartation of life, he must take both kinds of quickening as the two sides of the ζωή, which appears quite irreconcilable with the right understanding of οὓς θέλει, and with the distinct separation between the present and the future (the latter from Joh_5:28 onwards). The ζωοποιεῖν of the Messiah during His temporal working concerns the morally dead, of whom He morally quickens whom He will; but at a future day, at the end of all things, He will call forth the physically dead from their graves, etc., Joh_5:28-29. The carrying out of the double meaning of ζωοποιεῖν onwards to Joh_5:28 (for Joh_5:28-29 even Luthardt himself takes as referring only to the final future) leads to confusion and forced interpretation (see on οἱ ἀκούσαντες, Joh_5:25). Further, most of the Fathers (Tertullian, Chrysostom and his followers, Nonnus, and others), most of the older expositors (Erasmus, Beza, Grotius, Bengel, and many others), and recently Schott in particular (Opusc. i. p. 197), Kuinoel, Baumeister (in the Würtemb. Stud. II. 1), Weizel (in the Stud. u. Krit. 1836, p. 636), Kaeuffer, de ζωῆς αἰων not. p. 115 ff., also Baeumlein and Ewald, have taken the entire passage Joh_5:21-29 in a literal sense, as referring to the resurrection and the final judgment. Against this it is decisive: (a) that ἵνα ὑμεῖς θαυμάζητε in Joh_5:20 represents the hearers as continuous witnesses of the works referred to, and these works, therefore, as successive developments which they will see along with others; (b) that οὓς θέλει is in keeping only with the ethical reference; (c) that ἵνα πάντες τιμῶσι, etc., Joh_5:23, expresses a continuing result, taking place in the present (in the αἰὼν οὗτος), and as divinely intended; (d) that in Joh_5:24, ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου cannot be explained of physical death; (e) that in Joh_5:25, καὶ νῦν ἐστιν and οἱ ἀκούσαντες are compatible only with reference to spiritual awakening. To this may be added, (f) that Jesus, where He speaks (Joh_5:28-29) of the literally dead, very distinctly marks out the resurrection of these latter from that of the preceding as something greater and as still future, and designates the dead not merely with great definiteness as such (πάντες οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις), but also makes their ἀνάστασις ζωῆς conditional, not, as in Joh_5:24, upon faith, but, probably seeing that they for the most part would never have heard the gospel, upon having done good,thus characteristically distinguishing this quickening of the dead from that spoken of immediately before.

ὥσπερ … ζωοποιεῖ] The awakening and reviving of the dead is represented as the essential and peculiar business of the Father (Deu_32:39; 1Sa_2:6; Tob_13:2; Wis_16:13); accordingly the Present tense is used, because the statement is general. Comp. Rom_4:17. Observe, however, that Jesus here speaks of the awakening of the dead, which is peculiar to the Father, without making any distinction between the spiritual and literal dead; this separation first appears in the following reference to the Son. The awakening of both springs from the same divine source and basis of life.

ἐγείρει and ζωοποιεῖ we might expect in reverse order (as in Eph_2:5-6); but the ζωοποιεῖν is the key-note, which resounds through all that follows, and accordingly the matter is regarded in accordance with the popular view, so that the making alive begins with the awakening, which therefore appears as the immediate antecedent of the ζωοποιεῖν, and is not again specially named in the apodosis.

οὓς θέλει] for He will not quicken others because they believe not (Joh_5:24); this, and not an absolute decree (Calvin, Reuss), is the moral condition of His self-determination, just as also His κρίσις (Joh_5:22) is in like manner morally determined. That this spiritual resurrection is independent of the descent fvom Abraham, is self-evident from the fact of its being spiritual; but this must not be taken as actually stated in the οὓς θέλει. Many, who take ζωοποιεῖ literally, resort to the historical accounts of the raising of individuals from the dead (Lazarus, etc.), for which few cases the οὓς θέλει is neither appropriate nor adequate. See, besides, Joh_5:25. Ewald takes God as the subject of θέλει, which is neither logical (on account of the καὶ, which places both subjects in the same line), nor possible according to the plain words, though it is self-evident that the Son acts only in the harmony of His will with that of the Father; comp. Joh_5:30; Joh_6:40.

ζωοποιεῖ] ethically, of the spiritual quickening to the higher moral ζωή, instead of that moral death in which they were held captive when in the unconverted state of darkness and sin. See on Luk_15:24; Mat_4:16; Eph_5:14; Rom_6:13; Isa_26:19. Without this ζωοποίησις, their life would remain ethically a ζωὴ ἄβιος (Jacobs, ad Anthol. VII. p. 152), βίος ἀβίωτος (Xen. Mem. iv. 8. 8). The Present, for He does it now, and is occupied with this ζωοποιεῖν, that is, by means of His word, which is the life-giving call (Joh_5:24-25). The Future follows in Joh_5:28.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 5:21 . ὥσπερ γὰρ … ζωοποιεῖ . This is one of the “greater works” which the Father shows to the Son. The Jews believed in the power of God to give life and to raise the dead; see Deu 32:39 ; 1Sa 2:6 ; Isa 26:19 . In our Lord’s time there was in use the following prayer: “Thou, O Lord, art mighty for ever; Thou quickenest the dead; Thou art strong to save; Thou sustainest the living by Thy mercy; Thou quickenest the dead by Thy great compassion; Thou makest good Thy faithfulness to them that sleep in the dust; Thou art faithful to quicken the dead. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead.” There is therefore no need to ask, what quickening of the dead is here meant? What was meant was that the power which they all believed to be in God was likewise in the Son. He quickens οὓς θέλει , i.e. , no matter how dead the person is; even though he has lain as long useless as the impotent man. The question of the human will is not touched here, but it may be remarked that the will of the impotent man was consulted as the prime requisite of the cure.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Father maketh no man partaker of everlasting life, but in Christ, in whom only also he is truly worshipped.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

raiseth the dead and quickeneth them--one act in two stages. This is His absolute prerogative as God.

so the Son quickeneth them--that is, raiseth up and quickeneth.

whom he will--not only doing the same divine act, but doing it as the result of His own will, even as the Father does it. This statement is of immense importance in relation to the miracles of Christ, distinguishing them from similar miracles of prophets and apostles, who as human instruments were employed to perform super-natural actions, while Christ did all as the Father's commissioned Servant indeed, but in the exercise of His own absolute right of action.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. As the Father raised up the dead] This he did in the case of the widow's son at Sarepta, 1Kg 17:22, by the ministry of the Prophet Elijah. And again, in the case of the Shunamite's son, 2Kg 4:32-35, by the ministry of the Prophet Elisha.

The Son quickeneth whom he will.] He raiseth from death to life whomsoever he pleases. So he did, for he raised the ruler's daughter, Mr 5:35-42; the widow's son at Nain, Lu 7:11-15; and Lazarus, at Bethany, Joh 11:14-44.

Whom he will. Here our Lord points out his sovereign power and independence; he gives life according to his own will - not being obliged to supplicate for the power by which it was done, as the prophets did; his own will being absolute and sufficient in every case.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. For as the Father raiseth up the dead. Here he gives a summary view of the nature of the office which had been given to him by the Father; for though he appears to specify one class, yet it is a general doctrine in which he declares himself to be the Author of life Now life contains within itself not only righteousness, but all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and every part of our salvation. And certainly this miracle must have been so remarkable a proof of the power of Christ, as to yield this common fruit; that is, to open a door to the Gospel. We ought also to observe in what manner Christ bestows life upon us; for he found us all dead, and therefore it was necessary to begin with a resurrection Yet, when he joins the two words, raiseth up and quickeneth, he does not use superfluous language; for it would not have been enough that we were rescued from death, if Christ did not fully and perfectly restore life to us. Again, he does not speak of this life as bestowed indiscriminately on all; for he says that he giveth life to whom he will; by which he means that he specially confers this grace on none but certain men, that is, on the elect.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

21. raiseth up the dead] This is one of the ‘greater works’ which the Father sheweth the Son, and which the Son imitates, the raising up those who are spiritually dead. Not all of them: the Son imparts life only to ‘whom He will:’ and He wills not to impart it to those who will not believe. The ‘whom He will’ would be almost unintelligible if actual resurrection from the grave were intended.

21–27. The Father imparts to the Son the power of raising the spiritually dead. It is very important to notice that ‘raising the dead’ in this section is figurative; raising from moral and spiritual death: whereas the resurrection (Joh_5:28-29) is literal; the rising of dead bodies from the graves. It is impossible to take both sections in one and the same sense, either figurative or literal. The wording of Joh_5:28 and still more of Joh_5:29 is quite conclusive against spiritual resurrection being meant there: what in that case could ‘the resurrection of damnation’ mean? Joh_5:24-25 are equally conclusive against a bodily resurrection being meant here: what in that case can ‘an hour is coming, and now is’ mean?

21–29. The intimacy of the Son with the Father proved by the twofold power committed to the Son (a) of communicating spiritual life, (b) of causing the bodily resurrection of the dead.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them,.... Which may be understood either spiritually of raising dead sinners from the death of sin, to a life of grace and holiness; and the rather, because it is expressed in the present tense "raiseth", and not "hath raised"; or naturally of raising those that are dead in a corporeal sense, and quickening them, as the widow of Sarepta's son by Elijah, and the Shunamite's son by Elisha:

even so the Son quickeneth whom he will; both in a spiritual sense, being the resurrection and the life, or the author of the resurrection from a moral death to a spiritual life, whose voice, in the Gospel, the dead in sin hear, and live; and in a natural sense, as in the above instances of Jairus's daughter, the widow of Naim's son, and Lazarus; and in the general resurrection, when at his voice, and word of power, all that are in their graves shall come forth, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting damnation; and all this as he wills: he quickens, in a spiritual sense, whom he pleases, even as many as the Father has given him; and he will raise up to everlasting life, at the last day, whom he pleases, even as many as were made his care and charge, whom he has redeemed by his blood; and called by his grace. Now as the quickening of the dead is an act of almighty power, and this being exercised by the Son in a sovereign way, as is by his Father, it shows his proper deity, and full equality with the Father. The resurrection of the dead is here expressed by "quickening", as it frequently is by the Jews, who often speak of , "the quickening the dead", for the resurrection; so the Targumist on Zac 3:8, "in the quickening of the dead", "I will quicken thee"; see the Jerusalem Targum on Gen 29:26.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

Ver. 21. Raiseth up the dead] Bringing them from the jaws of death to the joys of life; which none can do but God alone.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As the Father raiseth up the dead - God has power to raise the dead. By his power it had been done in at least two instances - by the prophet Elijah, in the case of the son of the widow of Sarepta 1Ki 17:22, and by the prophet Elisha, in the case of the Shunamite’s son, 2Ki 4:32-35. The Jews did not doubt that God had power to raise the dead. Jesus here expressly affirms it, and says he has the same power.

Quickeneth them - Gives them “life.” This is the sense of the word “quickeneth” throughout the Bible.

Even so - In the same manner. By the same authority and power. The power of raising the dead must be one of the highest attributes of the divinity. As Jesus affirms that he has the power to do this “in the same manner” as the Father, so it follows that he must be equal with God.

The Son quickeneth - Gives life to. This may either refer to his raising the dead from their graves, or to his giving spiritual life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. The former he did in the case of Lazarus and the widow’s son at Nain, Joh 11:43-44; Luk 7:14-15. The latter he did in the case of all those who were converted by his power, and still does it in any instance of conversion.

Whom he will - It was in the power of Jesus to raise up any of the dead as well as Lazarus. It depended on his will whether Lazarus and the widow’s son should come to life. So it depends on his will whether sinners shall live. He has power to renew them, and the renewing of the heart is as much the result of his “will” as the raising of the dead.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For as the Father ... giveth life, so also the Son giveth life to whom he will; where these words, to give life to whom he will, shew the power of the Son and of the Father to be equal. (Witham) --- Our Saviour here mentions the greater works he spoke of in the preceding verse; for it is much more wonderful that the dead should rise, than that the sick should recover their health. We are not to understand these words, as if they meant some were raised to life by the Father, and others by the Son; but that the Father raises those whom the Son raises. And lest any one should understand this, that the Father makes use of the Son as his minister, through whose means he raises the dead, he immediately adds, &c. (St. Augustine, Tract. xxi. in Joan.) --- We see the lovers of this temporal and perishable life, labour to the utmost of their power, I will not say to avoid death, but merely to prolong their frail existence. If, therefore, men labour with so much solicitude, if they strain every nerve to prolong their lives but for a few years; how foolish and blind to their interest must those be, who live in such a manner as to be deprived of the light of eternal day! (St. Augustine, De verb. Dei. Serm. 64.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He seemeth not to speak of what God will do in the general resurrection, but of those whom the Lord raised up from the dead in the Old Testament, by Elijah and Elisha. The giving of and restoring unto life, are things proper unto God, Deu 32:39; 1Sa 2:6.

So the Son quickeneth whom he will: God hath given unto me a power to raise from the dead whom I will; as he did raise up Jairus’s daughter, Mat 9:25, and the widow’s son, Luk 7:14, and Lazarus. Joh 11:43. This was one of those greater works, of which our Saviour spake in the former verse.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. Son quickeneth—As the Father is the bestower and restorer of life, so the Son, in his union with humanity, will exert the resurrection power.

Whom he will—This phrase implies no mere arbitrary exercise of will; for the will of Christ ever acts by most just reason and rule. Upon his wise will and power resurrection depends.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 21-26. Greater works: (1) the resurrection of the dead.

For (gar introduces an illustration, a proof of the previous assertion. viz. that the eternal love of the Son would issue in such new marvels) as the Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. This is the most exhaustive expression of the Father"s love and revelation to the Son. This thing the Son sees, and this same thing he will do, whether these Jews attempt to put any arrest upon his will or not. The majority of commentators regard vers. 21-27 as descriptive of the moral and spiritual resurrection of dead souls, and hold that a transition is made in vers. 28, 29 to the resurrection of dead bodies and the final consummation. There are some, however, who regard the whole passage even vers. 28, 29 as referring, with the previous verses, to moral resurrection, although the words, "in their tombs" (mnhmeioiv) are there added to give distinctness and explicitness to that future resurrection; and though "now is" of ver. 25 is not there predicated or repeated. Others (with many of the older expositors) refer the entire passage to the final resurrection, which, however, is incompatible with ver. 20 and with the "now is" of ver. 25. Others, again, see in ver. 21, in egeirei and zwopoiei , the whole process of resurrection and renewal, both physical and moral, bodily and spiritual. They suppose that in ver. 25 Christ refers first to the spiritual renovation, to be affirmed and consummated in the universal resurrection and judgment of the last day. The generality of the terms egeirei and zwopoiei , attributed to the Father, makes it possible that the Lord was referring to the numerous events of uplifting from the pit, from the lowest sheol, which formed the staple religious nutrition of the Jewish race. The history of Divine revelation is one lengthened series of interpositions and deliverances, of resurrections of the people of Israel, and of the theocracy from bondage, exile, and spiritual and civil death, and of references to the wonderful transformations of saints and prophets and kings from the depths of despair to the light of life and Divine favour. Ezekiel (Eze 37) had likened the most memorable of these resurrections to the uprising of a huge army from a valley of vision, strewn with the dry bones of both houses of Israel. "So also," says Jesus, "the Son quiekeneth." including under this term, it may be, the physical healing which is often the precursor and condition of spiritual awakening and moral health and vigour. The Son, the incarnate Logos, revealing himself on earth, both as Logos and Son of man, is now quickening after the same fashion whom he will. The will of Christ is in such entire harmony with the Father"s will that there is no rivalry here. The will of the Son is in spontaneous accord with the Divine purpose of resurrection and quickening. He is already doing thus here on earth, as the great organ of the Father, that which makes his will the revelation of the Father. There is no arbitrary decree, such as Calvin found here, nor such as Roues insists upon. The emphasis is simply upon the subject of the verb yelei ; and we have in the expression a vindication of the nineteenth verse, "The Son doeth that which he sees the Father doing." His own yelhma being the origin and revealed centre on earth of Divine manifestations.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For - He declares which are those greater works, raising the dead, and judging the world. The power of quickening whom he will follows from the power of judging. These two, quickening and judging, are proposed ver. 21, 22. The acquittal of believers, which presupposes judgment, is treated of ver. 24; the quickening some of the dead, ver. 25; and the general resurrection, ver. 28.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The greater miracles:

v. 21. For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

v. 22. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son,

v. 23. that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent Him.

v. 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.

v. 25. 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.

v. 26. For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself;

v. 27. and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.

Since the miracle and the words of Jesus had not yet convinced the Jews, He here points forward to two miracles which would put His claim to the Sonship of God beyond question. The Jews believed in the power of God to give life and to raise the dead, Deu 32:39; 1Sa 2:6; Isa 26:19. This work of the Father, to raise the dead and restore them to life, is the work of His independent will. And the same is true of the Son. He has absolute power over life and death; as the Author of life He has power to give life and being at will. His will is just as omnipotent as that of the Father. And the same holds true of another divine work. Since all sins are, in the last analysis, directed against God, it is He that judges and condemns; that is His function, His special work. But now He is not exercising the works of this power, but has given this authority, together with its execution, into the hands of the Son. He has thus openly affirmed the full equality, the unquestioned deity of the Son. The allotting of men to their eternal destinies is altogether in the hands of the Son. The statement is sweeping, it refers to all men, and without appeal. Truly, if such an unquestioned divine prerogative is given to the Son, then there can be no doubt as to His deity and as to the divine honor which is due Him. There is no difference between the honor given to the Father and that due to the Son. In honoring the Son, men honor the Father; in refusing to honor the Son, they incidentally take away the honor from the Father. For divine honor and glory belong to the Son.

With great solemnity and a double asseveration the Lord tries to drive home this truth. It is His purpose to give eternal life. That is the purpose and will of God with regard to all men in the world. And the conditions for the receiving of this gift are very simple. They are merely that a person hear His Word, the glorious, sweet message of the Gospel, and then believe in the Father, that sent Him into the world. It is not a question of obtaining eternal life at some later date, but of possessing it right now. The same thought is also expressed from the negative side, namely, that such a person does not come under condemnation. See Rom 8:11-34. By accepting the Word of the Gospel, the believer goes from spiritual death, which would have resulted in eternal death, into life, into the full possession of the life which Jesus brought out of the grave. He has entered into the blessed, intimate communion with God, into the fullness of the glorious life which this union implies. This thought the Lord brings out with equally solemn emphasis. The time which the Triune God had selected had come with the incarnation of Jesus; the great hour of Jesus for calling the spiritually dead back into life had struck. Many a member of the Jewish nation, many a person that was a true Israelite, even if not a descendant of Abraham, was hearing and obeying the voice of the Son of God, as He was proclaiming it with His own mouth. And by such hearing, by the accepting of the Gospel, all such persons were getting the gift of life as their safe possession. The Father has life in Himself; in the same manner, in the same degree, the Son has life in Himself. Christ, even according to His human nature, has received life as His absolute possession. The Son can give life, for He Himself is the Possessor of life, He is Life and the Fountainhead of life. That is one of the mysteries of the Trinity. And the final proof for the Son’s divine power and majesty is His authority to exercise and execute judgment. This authority is His in His capacity as Jesus Christ the man, as the God-man, as the Word of God Incarnate. Those who will not accept the life which He proclaims and offers in the Gospel, will come under the judgment of condemnation by their own fault. Jesus Christ, the Judge, will be obliged to pronounce the judgment of condemnation upon them. And all of this proves beyond all question that Jesus is true God, with unabridged and full divine powers.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A third argument, proving Christ to be God, and equal with the Father, is here produced? namely, his raising of the dead; he is joined with the Father in that work, and equal with him: As the Father quickeneth whom he pleaseth, so doth the Son quicken whom he will; that is, not as the Father’s instrument, but as a principal agent, by the same authority, with the like absolute freedom of will which the Father uses, being a sovereign and independant being as the father is: As the Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them, so the Son quickeneth whom he will. This is more than ever was said of any prophet or apostle, that he did such works at his will.

Learn hence, 1. That quickening or raising of the dead, is an act of omnipotency, and proper to God only: The Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them.

2. That Christ’s power to raise the dead, as well as the father’s, is a proof of his equality with his Father, and an evidence of his being truly and really God; The Son quickeneth whom he will.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Father ... Son

These are important titles that describe the relationship between God and Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)

life

This refers to "spiritual life."

For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son

The word "for" marks a comparison. The Son of God carries out judgment for God the Father. (See: Translating Son and Father)

honor the Son just as ... the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father

God the Son must be honored and worshiped just like God the Father. If we fail to honor God the Son, then we also fail to honor God the Father. (See: Translating Son and Father)

translationWords

God the Father

die

life

Son of God

judge

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

21–29. The intimacy of the Son with the Father proved by the twofold power committed to the Son (a) of communicating spiritual life, (b) of causing the bodily resurrection of the dead.

21–27. The Father imparts to the Son the power of raising the spiritually dead. It is very important to notice that ‘raising the dead’ in this section is figurative; raising from moral and spiritual death: whereas the resurrection (Joh 5:28-29) is literal; the rising of dead bodies from the graves. It is impossible to take both sections in one and the same sense, either figurative or literal. The wording of Joh 5:28 and still more of Joh 5:29 is quite conclusive against spiritual resurrection being meant there: what in that case could ‘the resurrection of damnation’ mean? Joh 5:24-25 are equally conclusive against a bodily resurrection being meant here: what in that case can ‘an hour is coming, and now is’ mean?

21. ἐγείρει τ. ν. This is one of the ‘greater works’ which the Father sheweth the Son, and which the Son imitates, the raising up those who are spiritually dead. Not all of them: the Son imparts life only to ‘whom He will:’ and He wills not to impart it to those who will not believe. The ‘whom He will’ would be almost unintelligible if actual resurrection from the grave were intended.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21.] It is very important to observe the distinction here between the working of the Eternal Son (in creation, e.g.) as He is ἐν οὐρανῷ, with God, and His working in the state of His humiliation in which the Father should by degrees advance Him to exaltation and put His enemies under His feet. Of the latter of these mention is made (ver. 20) in the future, of the former in the present. The former belong to the Son as His proper and essential work: the latter are opened out before Him in the process of His passing onward in the humanity which He has taken. And the unfolding of these latter shall all be in the direction of, and in accordance with, the eternal attributes of the Son: see ch. 17:5: resulting in His being exalted to the right hand of the Father. So here,—as it is the Father’s essential work to vivify the dead (see Rom 8:11: 1Sa 2:6 .), so the Son vivifies whom He will: this last οὓς θέλει not implying any selection out of mankind, nor said merely to remove the Jewish prejudice that their own nation alone should rise from the dead,—but meaning, that in every instance where His will is to vivify, the result invariably follows.

Observe, this ζωοποιεῖ lays hold of life in its innermost and deepest sense, and thus finds its illustration in the waking both of the outwardly and the spiritually dead.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. The first of the “greater works” specified is that of the “quickening” power of Christ, in raising the dead. The power of death and life is a Divine prerogative (Wisd. 16:13), “Yahweh kills and makes alive” (Deu 32:39, 1Sa 2:6 θανατοῖ καὶ ζωογονεῖ, 2Ki 5:7 θανατῶσαι καὶ ζωοποιῆσαι). Several times in the daily prayer of the Jews, the Shemoneh Esreh, which in substance goes back to a period before the first century,1 is God invoked as One who “quickens the dead.” Cf. θεοῦ τοῦ ζωοποιοῦντος τοὺς νεκρούς (Rom 4:17), and also Rom 8:11 ὁ ἐγείρας ἐκ νεκρῶν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ζωοποιήσει καὶ τὰ θνητὰ σώματα ὑμῶν. So here we have ὁ πατὴρ ἐγείρει τοὺς νεκροὺς καὶ ζωοποιεῖ, ἐγείρειν being used of God’s “raising” of the dead, as it is at Mar 12:26.

This Divine prerogative also appertains to the Son: οὕτως καὶ ὁ υἱὸς οὓς θέλει ζωοποιεῖ. Paul has the same doctrine of Christ, as πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν (1Co 15:45; cf. 1Co 15:22), revivifying the dead. ζωοποιεῖν is not used here in a spiritual sense only (as at 6:63; cf. Eph 2:5), although that is included in its meaning; the significance of the verse as specifying one of Christ’s “greater works” is that He is declared to be one who has power over the death of the body, so that it is His to “quicken” whom He will. He is the Resurrection as well as the Life (11:25).

οὓς θέλει. His will is final as to who are to be “quickened,” just as there is no appeal from God’s will (Rom 9:18).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Raiseth - quickeneth. Physically and spiritually.

The Son quickeneth. Not raiseth and quickeneth. The quickening, however (zwopoiei, maketh alive), includes the raising, so that the two clauses are coextensive. In popular conception the raising precedes the quickening; but, in fact, the making alive is the controlling fact of the raising. Egeirei, raiseth, means primarily awaketh.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 21. “For, as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, so doth the Son also make alive whom He will.”

To raise the dead is a greater work than to heal an impotent man; hence the for. This work, as well as the particular miracles, is the reproduction of the Father’s work. The great difficulty here is to determine whether, as the greater part of the interpreters seem to think (for many do not explain themselves sufficiently on this point), the work of resurrection ascribed to the Father is to be identified with that which the Son accomplishes, or whether it is specifically different, or, finally, whether they combine with one another by a process, the formula of which must be sought after.

According to the first explanation, the ζωοποιεῖν, give life, ascribed to the Father, would remain in a purely ideal state until the Son, yielding to the divine initiative, caused the design of the Father to pass into the earthly reality. Thus Luthardt says: “The work belongs to God, in so far as it proceeds from Him; to the Son, in so far as it is accomplished by Him in the world” (p. 444). Gess: “It is not that the resurrection of the dead was until now the work of the Father, to become now the work of the Son; the resurrection of the dead is not yet an accomplished fact. No more is it that one part of the dead are raised by the Father, another by the Son....But the Son is regarded as the organ by which the Father raises from the dead.” Baumlein : “The Son is the bearer and mediator of the Father’s activity.” This sense is very good in itself; but does it really suit the expression: like as? Was this indeed the proper term to designate a single divine impulse, an initiative of a purely moral nature? Jesus, in expressing Himself thus, seems to be thinking, rather, of a real work which the Father accomplishes and to which His own corresponds.

According to the second sense, adopted by Reuss, we must ascribe the bodily resurrection to the Father and the resurrection in the spiritual sense, salvation, to the Son. Reuss finds the proof of this distinction in the οὓς θέλει,whom he wills, which indicates a selection and refers consequently to the moral domain only. This solution is untenable. How could Joh 5:28-29, which describe the consummation of the Son’s work, be applied to the spiritual resurrection? Comp. likewise Joh 6:40; Joh 6:44, etc., where Jesus expressly ascribes to Himself, by an ἐγώ, I, several times repeated, the resurrection of the body— a fact which entirely destroys the line of demarcation proposed by Reuss. Jesus seems to me rather to speak here of the divine action, at once creative, preservative and restorative, which is exercised from the beginning of things in the sphere of nature, and which has broken forth with a new power in the theocratic domain. Comp. Deu 32:39 : “I kill and make alive, I wound and heal.” 1Sa 2:6 : “It is the Lord who killeth and maketh alive, who bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up from it.” To this work of moral and physical restoration, till now accomplished by God, Jesus now unites His own; He becomes the agent of it in the particular sphere in which He finds Himself at each moment; this sphere will extend itself ever more widely; His capacity, in Himself, for performing it will increase in the same measure, until this domain is the universe and the power of the Son is omnipotence (comp. Mat 28:18).

The steps of this growth are the following: He begins to perform isolated miracles of corporeal and spiritual resurrection, samples of His great future work. From the time of His elevation to glory, He realizes, through the communication of the Holy Spirit, the moral resurrection of mankind. Finally, on His return, by the victory which He gains over the last enemy, death (1Co 15:26), He effects, in the physical domain, the resurrection of believers, and afterwards also the universal resurrection. At that moment only will the work of the Father have passed entirely into His hands. The work of the Son is not, therefore, different from that which the Father acccomplishes. Only the Son, made man, becomes the agent of it only by degrees. The present, makes alive, in the second member, is a present of competency. Comp. indeed Joh 5:25; Joh 5:28 (“the hourcometh that...”), which show that the reality is yet to come. Nevertheless, even now, the word of Christ possesses a life- giving force (the hour even now is, Joh 5:25). We may connect the object the dead with the first verb only (raiseth), and give to the second verb (ζωοποιεἴ, gives life), an absolute sense. But perhaps it is more natural to make the words, the dead, the object of both of the verbs (see Weiss). ᾿Εγείρειν, strictly to awake, refers to the passage from death to life; ζωοποιεῖν, to give life, to the full restoration of life, whether spiritual or bodily. Nothing forces us, with Reuss, to restrict the application of the word make alive, in the second member, to spiritual life The restriction: to whom he wills, undoubtedly indicates a selection. But will there not be a selection, also, in the bodily resurrection? In Joh 5:29, Jesus distinguishes, in fact, two bodily resurrections, one of life, the other of judgment. The first alone truly merits the name of making alive.

By saying: those whom he wills, Jesus does not contrast His will as Son with that of the Father. This meaning would require οὓς αὐτὸς θέλει . He contrasts those whom He feels Himself constrained to make alive (believers) with those on behalf of whom it is morally impossible for Him to accomplish this miracle. These words, therefore, are the transition to Joh 5:22, where it is said that the judgment, that is to say, the selection, is committed to Him. In effecting the selection which decides the eternal death and life of individuals, Jesus does not cease for an instant to have His eyes fixed upon the Father, and to conform Himself to His purpose. According to Joh 6:38; Joh 6:40, He discerns those who fulfill the divinely appointed condition: he that believeth; and immediately He applies to them the lifegiving power which the Father has given to Him, and which has now become His own. Might there not be in this οὓς θέλει, those whom he wills, an allusion to the spontaneity with which Jesus had offered healing to the impotent man, without being in any way solicited by him, choosing him freely among all the sick persons who surrounded the pool? Reuss finds, in these words: those whom he wills, a contradiction to the idea of the dependence of the Son’s work as related to that of the Father. But the inward feeling which makes Jesus will in such or such a way, while forming itself in Him spontaneously, is none the less in accord with that of God. Jesus wills of His own will, as He loves of His own love. But this love and this will have the same objects and the same end as the love and will of the Father. Comp. the formula, in the Apostolic Epistles: “Grace and peace from God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Liberty is no more arbitrariness in Jesus, than in God. In the same sense it is ascribed to the Spirit (Joh 3:8 and 1Co 12:11), and to the God of nature (1Co 15:38). What Jesus meant to express here is not, therefore, as Calvin and formerly Reuss have supposed, the idea of predestination, it is the glorious competency which it pleases God to bestow upon Jesus for the accomplishment of the common work. He is a source of life like the Father, morally at first, and then, one day, corporeally. While affirming His voluntary dependence, Jesus allows a glimpse to be gained of the magnificence of His filial prerogative.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.