John 5:25

25. Repetition of Joh_5:24 in a more definite form, with a cheering addition: Joh_5:24 says that whoever hears and believes God has eternal life; Joh_5:25 states that already some are in this happy case.

The hour is coming] Better, There cometh an hour: comp. Joh_4:21; Joh_4:23.

and now is] These words also exclude the meaning of a bodily resurrection; the hour for which had not yet arrived. The few cases in which Christ raised the dead cannot be meant; (1) the statement evidently has a much wider range; (2) the widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter, and Lazarus were not yet dead, so that even of them ‘and now is’ would not be true; (3) they died again after their return from death, and ‘they that hear shall live’ clearly refers to eternal life, as a comparison with Joh_5:24 shews. If a spiritual resurrection be understood, ‘and now is’ is perfectly intelligible: Christ’s ministry was already winning souls from spiritual death.

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.

Joh_5:25-27

The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God.

The spiritual resurrection

I. Its SUBJECTS. The spiritually dead, in trespasses and sins. To have life we must be born again.

II. Its MANNER.

1. The dead hear the voice of the Son of God in the word preached.

2. This word receives its power from heaven.

III. Its NATURE. Those who hear

1. Live.

2. Shall live. Death is banished for ever.

IV. Its SEASON.

1. The hour is coming.

(1) At Pentecost.

(2) Ever since.

(3) Till time shall be no more.

2. Now is.

(1) The day of the Spirits power had already in some measure come. Under every dispensation many heard the voice of the Son of God and lived.

(2) Now is the accepted time.

V. Its SOURCES.

1. The life which is in the Son (Joh_5:26).

2. The authority exercised by the Son. (A. Beith, D. D.)

The spiritual awakening

I. THE TIME OF IT. Now, during the currency of this Christian dispensation, at any and every moment thereof (2Co_6:2; Heb_3:7; Heb_4:7).

II. THE SUBJECTS OF IT (Eph_2:1).

III. THE MANNER OF IT. The vitalizing of a dead soul results from the infusion into it of life by the Son of God (Joh_5:21).

1. Not directly.

2. But indirectly through the word which the Son speaks.

IV. THE COGNITION OF IT. Not all the spiritually dead are quickened, or even all to whom the word of Christ is externally addressed, but only those who hear and believe (Joh_5:24-25, cf. Isa_55:3).

V. THE GROUND OF IT. The fact that the Son is possessed of life in Himself as an original and inexhaustible fountain, even as it exists in the Father (Joh_5:26).

VI. THE END OF IT. Life in the fullest and highest sense. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

Life for the dead

I. SINNERS ARE BY NATURE DEAD.

1. Legally under the sentence of death (Rom_5:1-21.). We are guilty and condemned. The curse of the law and the wrath of God are upon all viewed in their relation to Adam.

2. Really. The body is subject to death and to all the miseries which precede death. The soul is dead in trespasses and sins. Natural death makes the body lifeless; spiritual death makes the soul graceless, and both soul and body comfortless for ever.

(1) In natural death the body is without the soul; in spiritual the soul is without God.

(2) Natural death disfigures the body; spiritual the soul.

(3) Natural death makes the body cold; by spiritual the soul becomes cold toward God.

(4) In the one a man loses all right to property that once was his; by the other men lose all their right which they had in Adam to communion with God.

(5) As a dead body is without understanding, so the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.

(6) A dead body cannot raise itself, neither can a dead soul.

II. IN THE GOSPEL MEN ARE PROMISED LIFE.

1. This life is real.

2. It is suitable, removing condemnation, extracting the sting of death, imparting spiritual vitality to the condemned, guilty, and helpless.

3. Christ is this life, and the Holy Spirit applies it to the soul.

4. This life becomes part of a mans being.

5. This fife, although obstructed in its growth, is capable of endless development.

III. WHAT IT IS THAT QUICKENS THE SOUL OF THE DEAD. The voice of Christ is the Gospel, heard by the faith of the heart. (J. W. Reeve, M. A.)

Life in Himself

Life unoriginated, independent, absolute, eternal life

(Psa_36:9).

I. SPIRITUAL.

II. EVERFLOWING.

III. OVERFLOWING.

IV. ALL SATISFYING to men and angels. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

God is the focus and fountain of life

In Him life may be contemplated in its twofold activity.

I. THE LIFE OF GOD PASSES FORTH FROM ITSELF. It lavishes itself through the realms of nothingness. It summons into being worlds, systems, intelligences, orders of existences unimagined before. In doing this it obeys no necessary law of self-expansion, but pours itself forth with that highest generosity that belongs to a perfect freedom. That is to say that God the Life is God the Creator.

II. GOD IS BEING RETURNING INTO ITSELF, FINDING IN ITSELF ITS PERFECT SATISFACTION. God is thus the object of all dependent life. He is indeed the object of His own life; all His infinite powers and faculties turn ever inward with uncloyed delight upon Himself as upon their one adequate end. We cannot approach more nearly to a definition of pleasure than by saying that it is the exact correspondence between a faculty and its object. Pleasure is thus a test of vitality; and God as being Life is the One Being who is supremely and perfectly happy. (Canon Liddon.)

And hath given Him authority to execute Judgment

The advent in judgment

I. WHO IS THE JUDGE? Christ. He must be Divine to work out so great a judgment; but His humanity is expressly given as a reason for His judgeship.

1. We know His character, and can rely on His fairness and goodness.

2. He knows us, can sympathize with our weakness, and can understand our temptations.

3. Having in His human life conquered the same temptations, He has a right to condemn us if we fail.

4. As Messianic King He has the office of judging those who submit to Him and those who reject Him.

II. WHO ARE TO BE TRIED?

1. The dead. Death is no escape. Those who would not hear the voice of mercy must hear that of judgment. Spiritual death might prevent their hearing the first, but with physical death added they will hear the second.

2. All men.

III. WHAT IS THE GROUND OF TRIAL?

1. Not opinions, feelings, professions, resolutions, but deeds.

2. Not what men expected of us, what the world did, what was fashionable, convenient, suitable or aesthetic in our conduct, but its moral character solely. The simplest but deepest lines of cleavage will separate men--the question of good or evil.

3. But this will be judged by One who reads the heart, weighs all circumstances, and characterizes an act according to its motive. Thus many deeds which the world accounts good will be condemned, and others that are condemned will be justified.

IV. What will the sentences be?

1. A resurrection of life. The reward of obedience is for further obedience--not luxurious indolence.

2. A resurrection of judgment. To the impenitent death does not end all, nor any judgment-day. Their future is dark, but just and fair.

V. WHEN WILL THIS JUDGMENT BE? No one can know. God has fixed it. Every day brings it nearer. To each man it comes virtually at death. (W. F.Adeney, M. A.)

The Son of Man our Judge

As a man His life will condemn us.

I. His HUMILITY our pride.

II. His TEMPERANCE our indulgence.

III. His FORBEARANCE our impatience.

IV. His CHASTITY our sensuality.

V. His PIETY AND DEVOTION our ungodliness and worldly-mindedness. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

The Son of Man

1. In His exaltation (Joh_1:51); as being in heaven while on Joh_3:13).

2. As Lord of the Sabbath (Mat_12:8).

3. As blasphemed (Mat_12:32).

4. As coming in glory (Mat_16:27).

5. As suffering (Mat_17:12).

6. As rising (Mar_9:9).

7. As Saviour (Mat_18:11).

8. As sitting on His throne (Mat_19:28).

9. In His second advent (Mat_24:30).

10. As made under the law (Gal_4:4).

11. As subject to Gods decrees (Mat_26:25).

12. As forgiving sins (Mat_9:6).

13. As houseless (Mat_8:20).

14. As wearing a golden crown (Rev_14:14).

15. As Lord of the angels (Mat_13:41).

16. As supreme Judge (Rev_1:7).

17. As head of the Church (Rev_1:13). (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

The judgment of the Son of Man

Judgment, as Scripture knows it, is not the popular idea of judgment, which bids us be careful in reverence for the tribunal of human opinion; nor the scientific idea, which shows us how inexorably what we are about to-day will tell upon what we shall be; nor even the moral idea, which challenges us to say whether there is not a right and a wrong, and a choice which we can make between them. The judgment of Scripture is a simpler, deeper, stronger thing, which includes and explains all these. The judgment of Scripture is that which brings each man before God his Maker. In it God is a present, silent Judge of all. Gods revealed Word declares a judgment which must be stringent and searching, because it is the judgment of the All-Holy and All-Knowing. What question is it that we should ask? It is, By what standard shall we be judged? The text seems to suggest the answer, The Father hath given to the Son authority to execute judgment, because He is (the) Son of Man. Not, as we might have expected, because He is Son of God, but because He is Son of Man. The Judge wears our manhood; His manhood equips Him for judgment, even as it equips Him for sympathy and compassion. It is by mans standard, then, that we are judged and shall be judged; and fairly, for it is both the judgment which tries us by what we are made to be, and the judgment which we know; the judgment which speaks within us, just in proportion as our manhood is true and our conscience clear and strong; the judgment which speaks to us still more clearly through the human voices of men and women better than ourselves, calling us to quit as like men. In the Gospels we see the Son of Man beginning thus to judge. By the human instinct of compassion, the priest and Levite are condemned, and the good Samaritan approved; by the human instincts of gratitude and humility, the forgiven, but unforgiving, servant is judged; by the common standard of faithful human service, and even by that of worldly sagacity and foresight, the servant who hid his lords talent and the foolish virgins are judged; by comparison with the purely human qualities of zeal and pluck in the jewel collector, or of skilfulness even in the unjust steward, He rebukes mens slackness and unwisdom in the things that concern their souls; by the human instincts of charity, He declares that men shall be eternally judged, according as they have, or have not, regarded the appeal of the poor, sick, naked, hungry, and captive. Think, then, that we, individually and collectively, shall be judged by the standard of human excellence as it stands in our time, and as we may know it if we will what a dignity and value this gives to the human life about us in all its width and variety. For there, amidst much that corrupts and confuses, are to be found the best thinkings, doings, and strivings of our time and place; and by them, as men of our time and place, we must be judged. In this respect there are some simple counsels which may help. We must, for example, often learn from those whom we can by no means wholly follow. The prudence of the unjust steward is commended, without sanction of his character; the Positivist, who believes in no hereafter, may be admirable in his tenderness for all the natural parts and sympathies of this present life; students, whom, perhaps, we must think narrowly indifferent to interests outside their own departments of knowledge, are often excellent examples to us by their thoroughness, their perseverance, their reverence for every fragment of fact. Again, there is judgment for some of us in simple things, in natural virtues. We may go highflying after intellectual ambitions, and forget modesty and homely courtesy and kindness to those about us; or after special devotion and piety, while we neglect the simple duties of industry in daily work, or dutifulness at home, or brotherly kindness to Christians who are not of our sort. Once again, it would be well to judge ourselves by what is good in men of habits or temperament unlike our own; not to hug our own one-sidednesses, but to suspect them; to remember, if we are eager and easily moved, how much the slow, sober people have to teach us; or, if our pride is in moderation and solidity, how likely we are to need examples of warmer and less self-centred character, and a more generous appreciation of ideals. Remember, then, that the standard by which you must be judged is not that of your own low aims and narrow thoughts, but it is the standard of what you have the opportunity of raising those aims, or enlarging those thoughts, to he by a due use of all that is best and most inspiring in human life, as you have the privilege of knowing it. But we have not exhausted the meaning of the text. It cannot merely mean that we shall be judged by human standards. It must, mean that we shall be judged by the standard of the true manhood of Christ, and of humanity, taught, restored, illuminated by Christ. We have His Name on our lips, His cross before our eyes, His teaching in the gospels, His means of grace lavishly given to us. Must there not be a judgment in this--a judgment because Be is Son of Man revealing to His brother-men how they may be true men, as God their Father would have them be; and they will not? (E. S. Talbot, D. D.)

Christ will bring men to judgment

A man goes into an inn, and as soon as he sits down he begins to order his wine, his dinner, his bed; there is no delicacy in season which he forgets to bespeak. He stops at the inn for some time. By and by the bill is forthcoming, and it takes him by surprise. I never thought of that!--I never thought of that! Why, says the landlord, here is a man who is either a born fool or else a knave. What! never thought of the reckoning--never thought of settling with me! After this fashion too many live. They eat and drink and sin, but they forget the inevitable hereafter, when for all the deeds done in the body the Lord will bring us into judgment. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Death will be followed by judgment

After a mission festival several pastors and deacons continued an hour together, when the conversation drifted from the heathen abroad to those around us, and the following story was told by a village miller:--I sat at a garden concert with a friend of mine. The first part of the programme was ended, when an acquaintance of my friends came to us. Have you heard, said he to my friend, that Mr. R--died yesterday quite suddenly? A great pity; he was an agreeable andclever business man, and a pleasant companion. Ah well! he enjoyed life while he lived, and he was quite right; for when we are once dead its all finished. Is it all finished? Do you really think there is an end of it? said I. Ah! returned he, I see you are one of the old superstitious ones. What shall come after death greater or better than this life? As the tree falls, so it lies. Quite right, said I; As the tree falls, so it lies; but--do not take it amiss, friend--when you wish to prove by this quotation that after death it is finished with respect to us, you have not considered the matter on all sides, or your opinion is a blind one. Near my mill I have a woodyard, and now and then I buy some trees to cut down. Often have I stood over the fallen trunks and thought of those words, As the tree falls, so it lies; none will grow one inch taller or thicker, better or worse; all that can be done in him is done. But now, dear sir, it is not all finished; does it not rather begin? I go from trunk to trunk proving the wood. This, I say to myself, will be good for building purposes, that will prove useful; but for others, I say it is but fit for the fire. You know now how I think of the text. May God help us to become trees of righteousness. (Der Glaubensbote.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 5:25. Οἱ νεκροί, the dead) Used literally, in the body, as Jairus’ daughter, the young man at Nain, and Lazarus: ch. Joh 11:23, etc.; who all were raised up after that these words had been spoken: comp. Mat 27:52, etc., “The graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” There follows a gradation: all, Joh 5:28; in which verse the words [added to] the hour, the time that “now is” [καὶ νῦν ἐστίν], are not repeated; [but there is added mention of the graves, which, since Jairus’ daughter and the young man were not yet in the grave (when restored to life), is in this ver. omitted.—V. g.]—ἀκούσονται) Middle: also at Joh 5:28; a rare form.

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

Joh_5:25. Jesus re-affirms what He had already asserted in Joh_5:24, but in the more concrete form of allegorical expression.

καὶ νῦν ἐστιν] i.e. in its beginning, since Christs entrance upon His life-giving ministry. Comp. Joh_4:23. The duration of this ὥρα, however, continues till the second advent; already had it begun to be present, but, viewed in its completeness, it still belonged to the future. The expositors who take the words to denote the literal resurrection (see Joh_5:25, even Hengstenberg), refer καὶ νῦν ἐστιν to the individual instances of raising from the dead which Jesus wrought (John 11; Mar_5:41; Luk_7:14; Mat_11:5); but this is as inappropriate in general as it is out of keeping with Johns Gospel, for those individuals were not at all awaked to ζωή in the sense of the context, but only to the earthly life, which was still liable to death. Olshausen, who illogically explains Joh_5:25 as referring to the resurrection of the body, appeals to Mat_27:52-53.

οἱ νεκροί] the spiritually dead; Mat_8:22; Rev_3:1; and see on Joh_5:21.

τῆς φωνῆς] according to the context, the resurrection summons (Joh_5:28), which is here really, in the connection of the allegory, the morally life-giving preaching of Christ. The spiritually dead, generally, according to the category οἱ νεκροί, will hear this voice, but all will not awake to its call; only οἱ ἀκούσαντες, which therefore cannot be taken in the same sense as ἀκούσονται, but must signify: those who will have given ear thereto. Comp. Joh_8:43; Joh_8:47. In Latin: Mortui audient … et qui audientes fuerint, etc. It is the ἀκούειν καλοῦντος, Plut. Sert. 11, al., ἀκούειν παραγγέλλοντος, and the like, ἀκούειν τοῦ προστάγματος (Polyb. xi. 19. 5). If we understand the words of bodily awakening, οἱ ἀκούσαντες with the article is quite inexplicable. Chrysostom: φωνῆς ἀκούσαντες ἐπιταττούσης; Grotius: simul atque audierint. All such renderings, as also the vague explanation of Hengstenberg,[211] would require ἀκούσαντες merely without the article;[212] and ζήσουσιν would, in opposition to the entire context, signify to live generally, in an indifferent sense. Olshausen, indeed, supplements ἀκούσαντεςwhich, nevertheless, must of necessity refer to Τῆς ΦΩΝῆςby ΤῸΝ ΛΌΓΟΝ from Joh_5:24 : they who in this life hear the word of God. It is just as impossible to hold, with Luthardt (so far as he would include the literal resurrection), that ΟἹ ἈΚΟΎΣΑΝΤΕς refers to those who hear the last call of Jesus differently from others, i.e. joyfully receiving it, and therefore attain to life. This is an imported meaning, for there is no such modal limitation in the text; but οἱ ἀκούσαντες alone, which, so far as it must differ from the general ἀκούσονται, can only designate those who give ear, and by this the literal resurrection is excluded. For this double meaning of ἀκούειν in one sentence, see Plat. Legg. p. 712 B: θεὸν … ἐπικαλώμεθα· ὁ δὲ ἀκούσειέ τε καὶ ἀκούσας (cum exaudiverit) … ἜΛΘΟΙ, and also the proverbial expression ἈΚΟΎΟΝΤΑ ΜῊ ἈΚΟΎΕΙΝ.

[211] The article is said to indicate the inseparable connection between hearing and life.

[212] See Eurip. Hec. 25, 26, and Pflugk thereon. But οἱ ἀκούσαντες with the article is: quicunque audiverunt.

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 5:25 . Ἀμὴν … introducing a confirmation of the preceding statement, in the form of an announcement of one characteristic of the new dispensation; ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν , cf. Joh 4:3 . In this already arrived “hour” or epoch, the message of God is uttered by the voice of Jesus, τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ and οἱ νεκροὶ , they who have not made the transition spoken of in the preceding verse, ἀκούσονται , shall hear it; καὶ οἱ ἀκούσαντες ζήσονται [or ζήσουσιν ], not “and having heard shall live,” nor “and when they hear shall live”; but “and those who have heard [or hear] shall live”. The insertion of the article indicates that not all, but only a certain class of the νεκροί are meant: all the dead hear but not all give ear (Weiss). ἀκουσούσιν in the former clause means hearing with the outward ear, ἀκούσαντες hearing with faith. The question, how can the spiritually dead hear and believe? is the question, how could the impotent man rise in response to Christ’s word? Perhaps psychologically inexplicable, it is, happily, soluble in practice.

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

25, 28. ἀκούσουσιν. We cannot determine with certainty between this form (Joh 16:13?) and ἀκούσονται: ἀκούσομαι is the more common future in N.T. On ζήσουσιν (Joh 5:25) see on Joh 6:57.

25. Repetition of Joh 5:24 in a more definite form, with a cheering addition: Joh 5:24 says that whoever hears and believes God has eternal life; Joh 5:25 states that already some are in this happy case.

ἔρχ. ὥρα. There cometh an hour: comp. Joh 4:21; Joh 4:23.

καὶ νῦν ἐστιν. These words also exclude the meaning of a bodily resurrection; the hour for which had not yet arrived. The few cases in which Christ raised the dead cannot be meant; (1) the statement evidently has a much wider range; (2) the widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter, and Lazarus were not yet dead, so that even of them ‘and now is’ would not be true; (3) they died again after their return from death, and ‘they that hear shall live’ clearly refers to eternal life, as a comparison with Joh 5:24 shews. If a spiritual resurrection be understood, ‘and now is’ is perfectly intelligible: Christ’s ministry was already winning souls from spiritual death.

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.

Ver. 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.”

A new affirmation, which Christ draws from the depths of His consciousness. An immense perspective opens before Him. The great act of the spiritual resurrection of humanity dead in its sins, dead to God, is to begin at this hour, and it is through Him that it will be wholly accomplished! The identity of the formula which begins these two verses, Joh 5:24-25, “verily, verily, I say unto you” as well as the asyndeton, which makes the second the energetic reaffirmation of the first, would suffice to prove that Joh 5:25 cannot refer to a fact essentially different from the preceding, and how wrong it is for Keil to find included here at once the physical and the spiritual resurrection. Jesus has passed, at Joh 5:24, from the general idea of resurrection to that of the spiritual resurrection in particular; He does not return backward.

Only in order to make a picture, He borrows from the physical resurrection the images by which He wished to depict the spiritual work which is to prepare the way for it. He seems to allude to the magnificent vision of Ezekiel,in which the prophet, standing in the midst of a plain covered with dry bones, calls them to life, first, by his word, and then, by the breath of Jehovah. Thus Jesus abides here below the only living one in the midst of humanity plunged in the death of sin, and the hour is approaching in which He is going to accomplish with reference to it a work like that which God entrusted to the prophet with regard to Israel in captivity. There is here a feeling analogous to that which leads Him to say in the Synoptics: “Let the dead bury their dead.” The expression:The hour cometh, and is now come, is intended (comp. Joh 4:23) to open the eyes of all to the grandeur of this epoch which is passing and of that which is in preparation. Jesus says: the hour cometh; what He means is the sending of the Holy Spirit (Joh 7:37-39). But he adds: and is now come; for His word, which is spirit and life (Joh 6:63), is already preparing the hearts to receive the Spirit. Comp. Joh 14:17. For the expression: my word, Jesus substitutes: the voice of the Son of God. The teaching of Christ is thus presented as the personal voice of Him who calls sinners to life. The article οἱ before ἀκούσαντες (those who have heard), distinctly separates the spiritually dead into two classes: those who hear the voice without understanding it (comp. Joh 12:40), and those who, when hearing it, have ears to hear, hear it inwardly. Only these last are made alive by it. It is the function of judging which is accomplished under this form.

Those who apply this verse to the resurrection of the dead in the strict sense, are obliged to refer the words:and now is, to a few miraculous resurrections wrought by Jesus in the course of His ministry, and to explain the words οἱ ἀκούσαντες in this sense: and after having heard ...But all Hengstenberg’s efforts have not succeeded in justifying this grammatically impossible interpretation of οἱ ἀκούσαντεις . According to Olshausen, Joh 5:24 refers to the spiritual resurrection, and Joh 5:25 to the first bodily resurrection— that of believers at the Parousia (1Co 15:23). Joh 5:28-29, finally, designate the final, universal resurrection. The words: and now is, must, in that case, refer to the resurrection of the few believers who appeared after the resurrection of Christ (Mat 27:52-53). Undoubtedly, Jesus admits a distinction between the first resurrection and the universal resurrection (Luk 14:14 : to the resurrection of the just; comp. Rev 20:6); but the explanation which Olshausen gives of the words: and now is, is not open to discussion. Nothing in the text authorizes us to see here the indication of a resurrection different from that of Joh 5:24. The following verse explains the secret of the power which the voice of Christ will display in the hour which is about to strike for the earth.

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.

We are all dead in sin and cannot be quickened by any other means, than by the word of Christ apprehended by faith.

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

The hour cometh--in its whole fulness, at Pentecost.

and now is--in its beginnings.

the dead--the spiritually dead, as is clear from Joh 5:28. Here He rises from the calmer phrase "hearing his word" (Joh 5:24), to the grander expression, "hearing the voice of the Son of God," to signify that as it finds men in a dead condition, so it carries with it a resurrection-power.

shall live--in the sense of Joh 5:24.

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 25. The dead shall hear the voice] Three kinds of death are mentioned in the Scriptures: natural, spiritual, and eternal.

The first consists in the separation of the body and soul. The second in the separation of God and the soul. The third in the separation of body and soul from God in the other world. Answerable to these three kinds of death, there is a threefold life: Natural life, which consists in the union of the soul and body. Spiritual life, which consists in the union of God and the soul, by faith and love. Eternal life, which consist in the communion of the body and soul with God, by holiness, in the realms of bliss.

Of the dead, our Lord says, the hour is coming, and now is, when they shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live. The hour is coming, when all that sleep in the dust shall awake at the voice of the Son of man, and come to judgment: for he giveth life to the dead, Joh 5:21; Joh 5:28-29. Again, the hour is coming, when some of those who have died a natural death shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live again here. It is likely that our Lord had not as yet raised any from the dead; and he refers to those whom he intended to raise: See Clarke on Joh 5:21. Lastly, the hour now is, when many who are dead in trespasses and sins, shall hear the voice (the word) of the Son of God, believe, and receive spiritual life through him.

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

25. Verily, verily When the Evangelist represents the Son of God as swearing so frequently in reference to our salvation, hence we perceive, first, how eagerly he desires our welfare, and next, of how great importance it is that the faith of the Gospel should be deeply fixed and thoroughly confirmed. The statement has indeed some appearance of being incredible, when we are told that this is the effect of the faith of which Christ speaks; and therefore he confirms by an oath that the voice of his Gospel has such power of giving life that it is powerful to raise the dead It is generally agreed that he speaks of spiritual death; for those who refer it to Lazarus, (John 11:44,) and to the widow’s son at Nain, (Luke 7:15,) and similar instances, are refuted by what follows. First, Christ shows that we are all dead before he quickens us; and hence it is evident what the whole nature of man can accomplish towards procuring salvation.

When the Papists wish to set up their free-will, they compare it to the Samaritan whom the robbers had left half-dead on the road, (Luke 10:30;) as if by the smoke of an allegory they could darken a clear statement, by which Christ declares that we are fully condemned to death. And indeed as we have been, since the revolt of the first man, alienated from God through sin, all who do not acknowledge that they are overwhelmed with everlasting destruction do nothing else than deceive themselves by empty flatteries. I readily acknowledge that in the soul of man there remains some remnant of life; for understanding, and judgment, and will, and all our senses, are so many parts of life; but as there is no part which rises to the desire of the heavenly life, we need not wonder if the whole man, so far as relates to the kingdom of God, is accounted dead. And this death Paul explains more fully when he says, that we are alienated from the pure and sound reason of the understanding, that we are enemies to God, and opposed to his righteousness, in every affection of our heart; that we wander in darkness like blind persons, and are given up to wicked lusts, (Ephesians 2:1; 4:17.) If a nature so corrupted has no power to desire righteousness, it follows that the life of God is extinguished in us.

Thus the grace of Christ is a true resurrection from the dead. Now this grace is conferred on us by the Gospel; not that so much energy is possessed by the external voice, which in many cases strikes the ears to no purpose, but because Christ speaks to our hearts within by his Spirit, that we may receive by faith the life which is offered to us. For he does not speak indiscriminately of all the dead, but means the elect only, whose ears God pierces and opens, that they may receive the voice of his Son, which restores them to life. This twofold grace, indeed, Christ expressly holds out to us by his words, when he says, The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live; for it is not less contrary to nature that the dead should hear, than that they should be brought back to the life which they had lost; and therefore both proceed from the secret power of God.

The hour cometh, and now is. He thus speaks of it as a thing which had never before happened; and, indeed, the publication of the Gospel was a new and sudden resurrection of the world. But did not the word of God always give life to men? This question may be easily answered. The doctrine of the Law and the Prophets was addressed to the people of God, and consequently must have been rather intended to preserve in life those who were the children of God than to bring them back from death. But it was otherwise with the Gospel, by which nations formerly estranged from the kingdom of God, separated from God, and deprived of all hope of salvation, were invited to become partakers of life.

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.

(25) The hour is coming.—The same solemn words repeat in another form the same great truth. The reference here, as in the whole of this paragraph (Joh_5:21-27), is to the spiritually dead. This is shown by the “now is,” which cannot be applied to the physical resurrection (comp. Joh_5:28), and cannot be explained by the instances of physical restoration to life during the earthly ministry of our Lord; and also by the last clause, where “live” must mean the higher spiritual life, as it does in the whole context. It is shown too by the parallelism of the clauses with those of the previous verse:—

“He that heareth”. . . . “the dead shall hear”

“My word”. . . .“the voice of the Son of God,”

“Hath eternal life”. . . . “they that hear shall live.” The world is as a vast moral graveyard where men lie dead in sin,—sense-bound hand and foot, with spirits buried in bodies which should be holy temples, but have become as unclean tombs; but the voice of the Son of God speaks, and spirit, love, life, passes through the chambers of death, quickening souls whose death is as yet but a sleep, and those who hear and obey come forth into new life.

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

Verily, verily, I say unto you,.... With the same asseveration as before, and for the further illustration and confirmation of the same thing, occasioned by the last clause of the preceding verse, as well as improving upon the argument in Joh 5:21 for his equality with the Father, which he is still pursuing:

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; which may be understood either of a corporeal resurrection, and of some particular instances of it, which should shortly be; and of some persons who would be in the state of the dead, and to whom the voice of Christ would be attended with such power as to cause them to hear and live; as did Jairus's daughter upon his saying "Talitha Cumi", damsel arise, and the widow of Naim's son upon his saying, young man arise, and Lazarus, upon his calling to him, Lazarus come forth; and which is a full proof of his being equal to God that quickens the dead: or rather this is to be understood of a spiritual resurrection, and the rather, because this sense best agrees with the foregoing verse; and a corporeal resurrection is expressed in somewhat different words, and seems to be distinguished from this in Joh 5:28. And besides, the hour, or time of the resurrection of the above particular persons, was not strictly come; nor could they, with propriety, be said to be dead; to which may be added, that the phrase, "they that hear shall live", and none but them, best agrees with this sense: so then by the "dead" are meant such who are dead in trespasses and sins; who are separated from God, alienated from the life of God, and in whom the image of God is defaced; who are dead in all the powers and faculties of their souls, to that which is spiritually good; and are without spiritual breath, sense, feeling, and motion. And by "the voice" of Christ is intended his Gospel, which is a voice of love, grace, and mercy, of life and liberty, of peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by him; and which being attended with his power, is the means of quickening dead sinners; who may be said to hear it, when it comes not in word only, but in power, and works effectually in them; and is spirit and life, and the power of God unto salvation to them; when they receive it, understand, believe, and obey it: and such persons "shall live"; comfortably, pleasantly, and delightfully, a life of faith on Christ, a life of communion with him, and shall live eternally with him hereafter.

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

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.

Ver. 25. The dead shall hear the voice] The dead in sins shall believe the promises, and shall live the life of grace here and of glory in heaven.

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.

The hour - The time.

Is coming - Under the preaching of the gospel, as well as in the resurrection of the dead.

Now is - It is now taking place. Sinners were converted under his ministry and brought to spiritual life.

The dead - Either the dead in sins, or those that are in their graves. The words of the Saviour will apply to either. Language, in the Scriptures, is often so used as to describe two similar events. Thus the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world are described by Jesus in the same language, Matt. 24–25. The return of the Jews from Babylon, and the coming of the Messiah, and the spread of his gospel, are described in the same language by Isaiah, Isa. 40–61. Compare the notes at Isa 7:14. The renewal of the heart, and the raising of the dead at the judgment, are here also described in similar language, because they so far resemble each other that the same language will apply to both.

The voice of the Son of God - The voice is that by which we give command. Jesus raised up the dead by his command, or by his authority. When he did it he spoke, or commanded it to be done. Mar 5:41; “he took the damsel by the hand, and said, Talitha cumi.” Luk 7:14; “and he came and touched the bier, and said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” Joh 11:43; “he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” So it is by his command that those who are dead in sins are quickened or made alive, Joh 5:21. And so at the day of judgment the dead will be raised by his command or voice, though there is no reason to think that his voice will be audibly heard, Joh 5:28.

Shall live - Shall be restored to life.”

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

The hour cometh ... when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. Though some understand this of the rising of Lazarus; others of those that rose with Christ at his resurrection: yet by these words, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, seems rather to be signified the general resurrection at the end of the world; and though it be said, that now is the hour, this may be spoken of the last age of the world; and, as St. John says, (1 John ii. 18.) children, it is the last hour. In fine, some interpreters understand these words of a spiritual resurrection from sin, which Christ came to bring to the world. (Witham)

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).

The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: some understand this concerning the special resurrection of such bodies as Christ raised while he was upon the earth from death to life, of which number was Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus, &c. Others understand it of the general resurrection, spoken of Joh 5:28,29. That which favoureth this sense is, because here is no mention of believing, but only hearing a voice. But the most and best interpreters rather understand these words of those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and the quickening and life mentioned Eph 2:1, which is called

the first resurrection, Rev 20:5, because of what was said immediately before, that such a one is passed from death to life; and what was said before, He that heareth my word, agreeth with what is said here of hearing the voice of Christ; and what followeth seemeth better to agree with this sense. And Joh 5:28,29 speak plainly of the second and general resurrection of the body.

They that hear shall live; those who so hear the voice of Christ in the gospel, as to give a firm and steady assent to it, and, upon the credit of it, shall receive Christ as their Mediator and Saviour, shall live eternally; they do live the life of grace, and shall live the life of glory.

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

25. And now is—It is even now here; but not with the fulness in which it cometh. They that hear—They that listen; this resurrection is conditional and of a part only; and being present as well as future in time, is spiritual, and of the soul.

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

Once more the solemn asseveration, Verily, verily, I say unto you, is repeated, when our Lord still further emphasized the authority of his own word, the Father"s confirmation of its accuracy, and the Divine signature and testimony to its power. The hour is coming, and now is. There will be more wonderful attestations to the truth than any which as yet have broken the silence of the grave. Not only will the physically dead rise from their bier or their grave in the fulness and strength of resume, life, but the spiritually dead in vast multitudes will pass from death into eternal life, will know that the bitterness of death is over, and that there shall be no more condemnation for them. The Holy Spirit was, when Jesus spake, about to convict the world of sin, and to unveil the glory of Christ to the eye of faith. Pentecost would confirm the word of Jesus, for the Spirit will bear witness to the reality of the risen Lord. But whereas that hour was only "coming," that marvellous day had yet to dawn upon the world, Jesus added it now is while I am speaking the reality of this vast spiritual change is taking place. There are proofs enough already. "Now," already, at this very moment, the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. The spiritually dead shall be disturbed in their slumber and roused from their indifference, be made to know that the summons of supreme power and authority is addressed to them. Emphasis is laid upon the Divine force which is at work upon heart and conscience. "The Son of God," not "a son of man" merely, is uttering his voice. And they that have heard accepted the summons, "heard the word," and believed, not merely him that sent me (the teaching of ver. 24), but that he who has been sent is none other than the "Son of God these, said Christ, shah live. The form of the expression akousantev can only designate those who give ear, and by this the literal resurrection of all the dead is excluded. The teaching of this verse reasserts the teaching of ver. 24, and adds to it, and clothes the truth in the imagery of the general resurrection. The awful suggestion is involved that many of these dead ones will hear the voice of the Son of God, and not give heed to it. Hengstenberg endeavours to overthrow this general interpretation of the verse, making it equivalent to vers. 27, 28 rather than an expansion of ver. 24. The "now is," according to him, covers the whole period to the second advent, and the future akousontai points to a future epoch in the wra . But the emphatic omission of the nun esti in the later and more explicit statement is against such a view, and the akousontai is best explained by its adaptation to the whole clause. "The hour is coming" as well as "now is." The zhsontai "shall live," rather than shall be "made alive," is far more applicable to the resurrection of dead souls than of defunct bodies. It is equivalent to "have eternal life" of the previous verses.

The voice that reaches the dead.

The dispute between Jesus and the unwilling and unbelieving Jews was a dispute as to our Lord"s authority, dignity, and power. The attitude of his enemies constrained the Lord to adopt language the boldest and most uncompromising with regard to himself and his offices. Thus it was that he was led in the course of this discussion to advance his claim of authority over such even as were spiritually dead.

I THE STATE OF SPIRITUAL DEATH. I Its cause is sin, wicked departure from the God of life.

1. Its tokens are insensibility to spiritual realities, incapacity for spiritual exertion, and unfitness for spiritual society.

2. Its effects are apparent both here in this world, and hereafter in the future state of retribution.

II THE SUMMONS OF THE SON OF GOD.

1. It is the summons of One who has life in himself; as is apparent from his power, several times exercised in the course of his ministry, to raise the dead, and even more strikingly from his own glorious resurrection.

2. It is conveyed in a voice in itself authoritative and Divine; and yet avoice of invitation and of promise.

III THE RESPONSE OF HEARING AND REVERENT ATTENTION AND OBEDIENCE.

1. This is by no means universal, being rendered only by those who are awakened by the influences of the Holy Spirit to some susceptibility to the spiritually authoritative tones and language of the Son of God.

2. It is the hearing of the soul which our Lord requires as the condition of life. The Old Testament admonition and promise are appropriate in this connection: "Hear, and your soul shall live." The frequent invitation, or rather summons, addressed to the people by the Saviour should be borne in mind: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Many listened to his discourses who never really heard him; and it is so now with His gospel.

IV THE GIFT OF LIFE.

1. This life which is conferred by the Son of God is spiritual. In a subsequent part of the discourse, Jesus claims to be endowed with authority to raise the dead to the life of the future state; but here the life which is promised is of the spirit. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The spiritual character of this life appears from the references to that with which it is in contrast: "You hath he quickened, who were dead through trespasses and sins.

2. It is dependent life, derived from the source of spiritual vitality. Of himself the Lord Jesus says, in the following verse, that he possessed life, as his own, "in himself," by the appointment of the Father. But Christians derive their new life from him, who came "that they might have life, and might have it more abundantly.

3. It is immortal life, in this being distinguished from that of the body. In the preceding verse Christ describes it as "eternal," by which we may understand that it consists in participation in the Divine nature and in the Divine immortality. Thus the new life in Christ is independent of that of the body, whose dissolution indeed is the occasion of its higher development and true perfection. T.

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

The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God - So did Jairus's daughter, the widow's son, Lazarus.

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

25–27. The dead shall hear the voice. Those spiritually dead, as well as those in their graves. They shall hear, and the Son will bestow upon them eternal life. For the Son hath, by the will of the Father, life in himself and can bestow it. He is also judge, because he is the Son of man, a judge who shares the nature of the judged.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Truly, truly

Translate this the way your language emphasizes that what follows is important and true. See how you translated this in John 1:51.

the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live

The voice of Jesus, the Son of God, will raise dead people from the grave. (See: Translating Son and Father)

Son of God

This is an important title for Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)

translationWords

amen

die

Son of God

life

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

25.] This verse continues to refer to spiritual awakening from the dead. The ἔρχεται ὥρα κ. νῦν ἐστιν is an expression (see ref.) used of those things which are to characterize the spiritual Kingdom of Christ, which was even now begun among men, but not yet brought (until the day of Pentecost, Act_2) to its completion. Thus it cometh, in its fulness,—and even now is begun.

οἱ νεκροί,—in reference to ἐκ θανάτον of the preceding verse—the spiritually dead:—see below on ver. 28.

τῆς φωνῆς, His call to awake, in its widest and deepest sense;—by His own preaching, by His Apostles, His ministers, &c. &c. In all these He speaks to the spiritually dead.

οἱ ἀκούσ.] Not ἀκούσαντες merely, which would be ‘and having heard it, shall live:’ but οἱ ἀκούσ., and they who have heard it (or, who hear it) shall live. This determines the verse to be spoken of spiritual, not bodily awakening.

οἱ ἀκούσαντες are the persons to whom the Lord cried so often ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν, ἀκουέτω:—the persons who stand opposed to those addressed in ver. 40, οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν πρός με, ἴνα ζωὴν ἔχητε.

ζήσουσιν is explained in the next verse.

26,

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

25. οἱ νεκροὶ ἀκούσουσιν κτλ. Even those who do not believe, who are spiritually dead, are not beyond the range of Christ’s words. They, too, may hear and live. This is one of those extraordinary assurances which must be introduced by the solemn adjuration ἀμὴν ἀμήν. It is, as it were, a corollary or sequel to v. 24; see on 1:51.

Of the quickening of the physically dead at the Last Judgment, it is said in v. 28 ἔρχεται ὥρα, but of the spiritually dead in the present, ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν, as at 4:23, where see note. To treat καὶ νῦν ἐστίν as an editorial interpolation here is to misunderstand the sequence of thought in vv. 24-29.

οἱ νεκροί here are the spiritually dead, as at Eph 2:1, Eph 2:5, Eph 2:5:14. “They shall hear (cf. ἀκούων in v. 24) the voice of the Son of God.” It is not only.His sheep who may hear His voice (10:16), but those also who have not yet learnt to follow. Note that ἀκούειν with the gen. carries the meaning of “hearing with appreciation”; see on 3:8.

τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ: see on 1:34. It is only in Jn. that this title is put into the mouth of Jesus (10:36, 11:4); while he often employs it when writing in his own person.

B has ἀκούσουσιν, but אLW read ἀκούσωσιν, the rec. having ἀκούσονται. Also the rec. ζήσονται (AΓΔΘ) must give place to ζήσουσιν (אBDLW).

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

The dead. Spiritually.

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