John 5:28

Joh_5:28-29

The hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear His voice

The general resurrection

I.

The RESURRECTION.

1. Its subjects. All who are in their graves.

(1) The almost universal custom of preserving the remains of the departed bears witness to the truth of the text. No such custom obtains with reference to animals. The body was not formed to die, and men cherish the hope of its recovering its lost immortality.

(2) Our text, therefore, gratifies the most sacred feelings of the human heart. Our separation from our loved ones is only temporary.

(3) The same persons shall rise. Momentous changes, indeed, take place; but what changes take place between infancy and old age! Yet it is the same person in whom they transpire.

(4) The analogy by which Scripture illustrates this mystery is that of grain sown in the earth, which dies in order to live again.

2. The power by which it is accomplished. Christs voice.

(1) Not the voice as heard through pastors, etc. The season for hearing, that for conversion, sanctification, comfort, etc., is over. This we can refuse to hear, but not that.

(2) The voice of the archangel and the trump of God, terrible, irresistible, dead awakening.

3. The time.

(1) It is determined in the counsels of God.

(2) It will be at the winding up of the affairs of time, the last day. The day of worlds first judgment came; so did that of Sodom, and Babylon, and Jerusalem; and just as surely shalt this.

II. The JUDGMENT. All shall come forth.

1. The righteous.

(1) They shall not taste of death.

(2) Their bodies shall be fashioned like unto Christs glorious body.

(3) They shall obtain everlasting blessedness.

2. They that have done evil.

(1) The unbelievers who are condemned already to have their condemnation confirmed.

(2) They shall rise to be everlastingly banished. (A. Beith, D. D.)

The resurrection

What Christ AVOWS and affirms is that He is the Son of God, and that is the first thing that was ever done in heaven--the eternal generation of the Son: that by which He proves this is that there shall be a resurrection of the body; and that is the last thing that shall be done in heaven.

I. The DIGNITY of this resurrection. Marvel not at this--at your spiritual resurrection, that a sermon should work, or sacrament comfort. Deem not this a miracle. But there are things which we may wonder at. Nil admirari is but the philosophers wisdom; he thinks it a weakness that anything should be strange to him. But Christian philosophy tells us that the first step to faith is to wonder with holy admiration at the ways of God with man. Be content, then, to wonder at this, that God should so dignify as to associate to His presence the body of man. God is a spirit, every soul is a spirit, angels are spirits, and therefore proportioned to heaven; so no wonder they are there. But wonder that God, who is all spirit, and is served by spirits, should have a love for this body.

1. Behold this love even here.

(1) The Father was pleased to breathe into this body at first, in the creation.

(2) The Son assumed this body in the redemption.

(3) The Holy Ghost consecrates this body and makes it His temple by His sanctification. So the whole Trinity is exercised upon the dignifying of the body.

2. This purpose of dignifying the body is opposed

(1) By those who violate and mangle the body which God made in inhuman persecutions.

(2) By those who defile the garment Christ wore by licentiousness. Some of the Roman emperors made it treason to carry a ring that had their picture on it to any place in the house of low office. What name can we give that sin to make the body of Christ the body of a harlot? (1Co_6:15-18).

(3) By those who sacrilegiously profane the temple of the Holy Ghost by neglecting the duties belonging to the dead bodies of Gods saints.

3. Those exceed this purpose who

(1) Pamper with wanton delicacies or sadden and disfigure with lastings and disciplines His own workmanship.

(2) Who dishonour or undervalue the body or forbear marriage.

(3) Who keep any rag of a dead mans skin, or chips of their bones, or lock of their hair for a relic, amulet, or antidote against temporal or spiritual calamities.

II. The APPROACH of this resurrection. The former resurrection Christ said, Now is; of this He said, It is coming. In a sense this applies to death. The resurrection being the coronation of man, his lying down in the grave is his sitting down on that throne where he is to receive his crown. To the child now born we may say, The day is coming; to him that is old, The hour is come; but to him that is dead, The minute is come--because to him there are no more minutes till it do come.

III. The GENERALITY of this resurrection. It reaches to all that are in the grave. God hath made the body as a house for the soul till He call her out; and He hath made the grave a house for the body till He call it up. Shall none, then, rise but those who have enjoyed a grave? It is a comfort for a dying man, an honour to his memory, the duty of his friends, a piece of the communion of saints, to have a consecrated grave; but the word here is in monumentis--i.e., in receptacles of bodies of whatever kind. Some nations burnt their dead, there the fire is their grave; some drowned them, there the sea; some hung them on trees, there the air. The whole mansion of the dead shall be emptied.

IV. The INSTRUMENT. The voice of the Son of Man. In the spiritual resurrection it is the voice of the Son of God, lest the human vehicle should be despised. Here it is that of the Son of Man, who has felt all our infirmities, lest we should be terrified at the presence of the offended God. The former we may hear if we choose; the latter we must hear whether we will or not. God whispers in the voice of the Spirit; He speaks a little louder in the voice of a man; but let the man be a Boanerges, yet no thunder is heard over all the world. But the voice at the resurrection shall be heard by the very dead, and all of them.

V. The DIVERSE END.

1. You have seen moral men, or impious men go in confidently enough; but they will come forth in another complexion. They never thought of what was after death. Even the best are shaken with a consideration of that. But when I begin this fear in this life, I end it in my death, and pass away cheerfully; but the wicked begin this fear when the trumpet sounds, and never shall end it.

2. Fix on the conditions done good. To have known good, believed it, extended it, preached it, will not serve. They must be rooted in faith, and there bring forth fruit.

Conclusion: Remember with thankfulness the several resurrections that God hath given you.

1. From superstition and ignorance, in which you in your fathers lay dead.

2. From sin and a love of it, in which you in your youth lay dead.

3. From sadness, in which you in your worldly crosses or spiritual temptations lay dead; and

4. Assure yourselves that God, who loves to perfect His own work, will fulfil His promise in your resurrection to life. (J. Donne, D. D.)

The doctrine of the resurrection

is peculiarly Christian. With natural reason, assisted by some light lingering in tradition, a few philosophers spelled out the immortality of the soul; but that the body should rise again is brought to light by Christ. It is the key-stone of the Christian arch; for if Christ be not risen our faith is vain. It was the main weapon of the early missionaries, and therefore should be oftener preached. It is, moreover, continually blessed of God to arouse the minds of men. We shall

I. EXPOUND THE TEXT.

1. There is a forbidding to marvel at the renewing of natural life, as in the case of Lazarus, etc., and at the quickening of the spiritually dead--both of which are things which it is legitimate to wonder at by way of admiration, but not in the spirit of insulting unbelief. But the greater marvel is the general resurrection. Yet to you it is less than that of the marvel of saving dead souls. In the former there is no opposition to omnipotence, but in the latter the elements of death are so potent that regeneration is a complicated miracle of grace and power, Nevertheless, to the few the former is the greatest marvel. Let us be admonished by these marvelling Jews. Does it seem impossible for that ungodly man to be converted? That you should be supported in your trouble? That your corruptions should be cleansed? Doubt no more. Your Saviour will raise the dead.

2. The coming hour.

(1) An hour, because near to Him: since we do not begin to look for an hour that is remote. It may be a thousand years off, but with Him that is but as one day. Like Him, therefore, count it close, and act as though it would come to-morrow.

(2) Coming, therefore, certain. Dynasties may stand or wither; but the hour of resurrection is sure, whatever else may be contingent or doubtful. Every second brings it nearer. Look at it, then, as a thing that ever cometh

(3) the hour par excellence. We hear of hours which have been big with the fate of nations, crises in history; but here is the culminating crisis of all.

3. All that are in their graves. Those before the flood, those after; from east, west, north, south; mighty empires, etc., and you.

4. Shall hear His voice.

(1) Why, the ear has gone! But the God who gives the ear to the new-born babe, shall renew yours.

(2) That voice now sounding in this place is not heard by those who have ears; yet those who have no ears shall then hear it. How deaf must those be who are more deaf than the dead. You must hear the summons to judgment; God grant that you may hear the summons to mercy.

5. Shall come forth. Not only emerge, but be manifested. Hypocrisy will be unmasked, and unobtrusive good acknowledged.

6. Those who have done good and those who have done evil.

(1) Death makes no change in character, and we must expect no improvement after death..

(2) Only two characters will rise. There are no mingled characters.

(3) All will be judged according to their works which have evidenced their faith.

(4) They will meet with different dooms.

II. DRAW LESSONS FROM THE TEXT.

1. Of adoring reverence. If the dead are to rise at the voice of Christ let us worship Him.

2. Of consolation to those who mourn departed friends. Weep not as if thou hadst cast thy treasure into the sea, thou hast only laid it in a casket whence thou shalt receive it brighter than before.

3. Of self-examination.

(1) What shall be your position?

(2) How shall you meet before God those whom you have sinned with before men?

(3) How shall you meet Him as your Judge who would have been your Saviour? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The resurrection

I. THE EVIDENCE BY WHICH IT IS ESTABLISHED.

1. The express declarations of the commissioned servants of God Heb_9:19; Job_19:25-27; Psa_16:9-11; Isa_26:19;Hos_13:14; Dan_12:2; Mat_27:52-53; 1Th_4:13-17; 1Co_15:1-58).

2. Our Saviours own resurrection. If Christ did not rise, our faith is vain; if He did, He can raise us, and His resurrection is a pledge of ours.

3. Let this evidence produce on your minds its legitimate impression, and banish all uncertainty.

4. The folly of scepticism will appear when we consider that this is in harmony with reason. For admitting Gods infinite power, this is not impossible; and granting His infinite goodness, it is certain.

II. THE AGENCY BY WHICH IT SHALL BE ACCOMPLISHED.

1. By hearing Christs voice. The archangels trumpet is a symbol of that in its awakening power.

2. The mode is uncertain, but Christ has innumerable resources of which we have no knowledge.

III. THE IDENTITY OF THE BURIED WITH THE RAISED.

1. If new bodies were produced they could not be said to come out of their graves. The word resurrection suggests something different from a new creation. Besides, it would be contrary to equity that one body should do good or evil and another be rewarded or punished.

2. Still we shall all be changed, but not so as to lose our identity. The glorified Christ is the same Jesus as the Man of sorrows. We shall be like Him, yet the same persons that we are now.

IV. THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE ACT.

V. THE IMPROVEMENT. The subject suggests

1. A powerful motive to seek an interest in the Christian salvation. We must all die; and if we have not been saved we shall rise to the resurrection of damnation.

2. Comfort under the loss of near and dear relatives.

3. Confidence in the prospect of our own dissolution. (P. Grant.)

The resurrection brought to light by Christ

I stood on the top of the Catskills one bright morning. On the top of the mountain was a crown of flashing gold, while all beneath was rolling, writhing, contorted cloud. But after a while the arrows of light shot from heaven, began to make the glooms of the valley strike tent. The mists went skurrying up and down like horsemen in wild retreat. The fogs were lifted, and dashed, and whirled. Then the whole valley became one grand illumination; and there were horses of fire, and chariots of fire, and thrones of fire, and the flapping wings of angels of fire. Gradually, without sound of trumpet or roll of wheel, they moved off. The green valleys locked up. Then the long flash of the Hudson unsheathed itself, and there were the white flocks of villages lying amid the rich pastures, golden grain-fields, and the soft, radiant cradle of the valley, in which a young empire might sleep. So there hangs over all the graves, and sepulchres, and mausoleums a darkness that no earthly lamp can lift; but from above the Sun of Righteousness shines, and the dense fogs of scepticism having lifted, the valleys of the dead stand in the full gush of the morning of the resurrection. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)

The conqueror conquered

If I were to call on you to give the names of the worlds great conquerors, you would say, Caesar, Alexander, Philip, and the first Napoleon. You have missed the greatest. The men whose names have just been mentioned were not worthy the name of corporal when compared with him. He rode on the black horse that crossed the fields of Waterloo and Atlanta, and bloody hoofs have been set on the crushed hearts of the race. He has conquered his every land and besieged every city; and to-day, Paris, London, St. Petersburg, New York, and Brooklyn are going down under his fierce and long-continued assault. That conqueror is Death. He carries a black flag, and takes no prisoners, He digs a trench across the hemispheres and fills it with carcases. Had not God kept creating new men, the world, fifty times over, would have swung lifeless through the air; not a foot stirring in the cities, not a heart beating--a depopulated world--a ship without a helmsman at the wheel, or acaptain on deck, or crew in the rigging. Herod of old slew only those of two years old and under, but this monster strikes all ages. Genghis Khan sent five millions into the dust; but this, hundreds of thousands of millions. Other kings sometimes fall back and surrender territory once gained; but this king has kept all he won, save Lazarus and Christ. The last One escaped by Omnipotent power, while Lazarus was again captured and went into the dust. What a cruel conqueror! What a bloody king! His palace is a huge sepulchre; his flowers the faded garlands that lie on coffin lids; his music the cry of desolated households; the chalice of his banquet a skull; his pleasure-fountains the falling tears of a world. But that throne shall come down; that sceptre shall break; that palace shall fall under bombardment, For the hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)

The inevitableness of the resurrection.

An infidel German countess said her grave never should be opened. She ordered it to be covered by a solid slab of granite; that around it should be placed square blocks of stone, and that the whole should be fastened together by iron clamps. On the stone, by her order these words were cut, This burial-place, purchased to all eternity, must never be opened. Thus she defied the Almighty. But a little seed sprouted under the covering, and the tiny shoot found its way between two of the slabs, and grew there, slowly and surely until it burst the clamps asunder, and lifted the immense blocks. Mans power fails even to secure a tomb from natural destruction; much less can it secure the soul against that day in which each one is to give account of the deeds done in the body. (J. L. Nye.)

Evil

may be contemplated from two points of view, either on the side of its positive malignity, its will and power to work mischief, or else on that of its negative worthlessness, and, so to speak, its good-for-nothingness; πονμρός contemplates evil from the former point of view, and φᾶυλος from the latter. There are words in most languages which contemplate evil under this latter aspect, the impossibility of any true gain ever coming forth from it. Thus nequam (in strictness opposite to frugi), and nequitia in Latin, vaurien in French, naughty and naughtiness in English, taugenichts, schlecht, schlechligkeit in German. This notion of worthlessness is the central notion of φαῦλος (by some identified with faul, foul), which in Greek runs succesfylly through the following meanings: light, unstable, blown about by every wind, small, slight, mediocre, of no account, worthless, bad; but still bad predominantly in the sense of worthless. Φαῦλος, as used in the New Testament, has reached this latest stage of its meaning; and τἀ φαῦλα πραξαντας, are set over against τὰ ἀγαθὰ ποιήσαντες and condemned as such to the resurrection of damnation. (Archbishop Trench.)

The resurrection credible

Wycliffes corpse was burnt to ashes, and these ashes were cast into the river; carried into the sea, and thence dispersed in a thousand directions, can the particles ever again be reunited? The Christian philosopher sees no difficulty in the case. Did any of these changes happen to the Reformers body irrespectively of those natural laws which God has ordained? And, if even so, is it not just as easy for Him to reverse their action as it was to give them that action originally? It is a well-known chemical law, that, by the use of proper agencies, bodies thoroughly dissolved may be recovered and restored to their pristine shape. A single illustration will suffice. If we throw a lump of solid camphor into a vessel of spirits of wine, it will soon be completely dissolved; nevertheless, by diluting the spirits of wine with water, we may recover the camphor in the form of a sediment; nay, with the loss of a few grains, we may restore it to its original shape. So, too, of a silver vase dissolved in aquafortis. Beyond all controversy, these experiments are, in the eyes of the philosopher, far less marvellous than the act of reconstituting a dispersed, disorganized body; and yet, bearing in mind the infinite power of Jehovah, we can conceive it just as easy for Him thus to restore originally as to create.

The future punishment of the wicked

A professor in one of our leading colleges some time ago went to the president with his doubts upon the subject of endless punishment, and confessed that he could hardly believe the doctrine. I couldnt believe it at all, was the presidents reply, if the Bible did not teach it.

Everlasting damnation

A venerable minister preached a sermon on the subject of eternal punishment. On the next day it was agreed among some thoughtless young men, that one of them should endeavour to draw him into a dispute, with the design of making a jest of him and of his doctrine. The wag accordingly went, and commenced by saying, I believe there is a small dispute between you and me, sir, and I thought I would call this morning and try to settle it. Ah, said the clergyman, what is it? Why, replied the wag, you say that the wicked will go into everlasting punishment, and I do not think that they will. Oh, if that is all, answered the minister, there is no dispute between you and me. If you turn to Mat_25:46 you will find that the dispute is between you and the Lord Jesus Christ, and I advise you to go immediately and settle it with Him. (W. Baxendale.)

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

Joh 5:28. Μὴ θαυμάζετε τοῦτο, marvel not at this) They are great things which He spake all along from Joh 5:21, and worthy of marvel; but greater and more marvellous are the things which follow: τοῦτο, this, is to be referred to what goes before. Jesus knew the feeling of wonder which had been just now raised in the mind of the Jews.—ὥρα, the hour) See note on ch. Joh 5:21. [It is termed an hour, not because that whole time is short, but because its beginning is near.]—φωιῆς, the voice) 1Th 4:16, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.”

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

Joh_5:28-30. Marvel not at this (comp. Joh_3:7), viz. at what I have asserted concerning my life-giving and judicial power; for[218] the last and greatest stage of this my Messianic quickening work (not the work of the λόγος as the absolute ζωή, to whom Baur refers the whole passage, Joh_5:20 ff.; see, on the contrary, Brückner) is yet to come, namely, the raising of the actually dead out of their graves, and the final judgment.[219] Against the interpretation of this verse (see on Joh_5:21) in a figurative sense (comp. Isa_26:19; Exo_37:12; Dan_12:2), it is decisive that οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις would have to mean merely the spiritually dead, which would be quite out of keeping with οἱ τὰ ἀγαθὰ ποιήσαντες. Jesus Himself intimates by the words οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις that He here is passing from the spiritually dead, who thus far have been spoken of, to the actual dead.

ὅτι] argumentum a majori; the wonder at the less disappears before the greater, which is declared to be that which is one day to be accomplished. We are not to supply, as Luthardt does, the condition of faithful meditation on the latter, for the auditors were unbelieving and hostile; but the far more wonderful fact that is told does away with the wonder which the lesser had aroused, goes beyond it, and, as it were, causes it to disappear.

ἔρχεται ὥρα] Observe that no καὶ νῦν ἐστιν, as in Joh_5:25, could be added here.

πάντες] Here it is as little said that all shall be raised at the same time, as in Joh_5:25 that all the spiritually dead shall be quickened simultaneously. The τάγματα, which Paul distinguishes at the resurrection, 1Co_15:23-24, and which are in harmony with the teaching of Judaism and of Christ Himself regarding a twofold resurrection (Bertholdt, Christol. pp. 176 ff., 203 ff.; and see on Luk_14:14), find room likewise in the ὥρα, which is capable of prophetic extension.

οἱ τὰ ἀγαθὰ ποιήσαντες, κ.τ.λ.] that is, the first resurrection, that of the just, who are regarded by Jesus in a purely ethical aspect, and apart from all national particularism. See on Luk_14:14, and comp. Joh_6:39. It was far from His object here to dwell upon the necessity of His redemption being appropriated by faith on the part of the dead here spoken of; He gives expression simply to the abstract moral normal condition (comp. Rom_2:7; Rom_2:13; Mat_7:21). This necessity, however, whereby they must belong to the οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ (1Co_15:23; comp. Mat_25:31 sqq.), implies the descensus Christi ad inferos.

εἰς ἀνάστ. ζωῆς] they will come forth (from their graves) into a resurrection of life (represented as local), i.e. to a resurrection, the necessary result of which (comp. Winer, p. 177 [E. T. p. 235]) is life, life in the Messiahs kingdom. Comp. 2Ma_7:14 : ἀνάστασις εἰς ζωήν; Dan_12:2; Rom_5:18 : δικαίωσις ζωὴς.

κρίσεως] to which judgment pertains, and judgment, according to the context, in a condemnatory sense (to eternal death in Gehenna); and accordingly ἀνάστασις ζωῆς does not exclude an act of judgment, which awards the ζωή.

As to the distinction between ποιεῖν and πράττειν, see on Joh_3:20-21. Joh_5:30 further adds the guarantee of the rectitude of this κρίσις, and this expressed in a general way, so that Jesus describes His judgment generally; hence the Present, denoting continuous action, and the general introductory statement of Joh_5:19, οὐ δύναμαι, etc.

καθὼς ἀκούω] i.e. from God, who, by virtue of the continual communion and confidence subsisting between Him and Christ, always makes His judgment directly and consciously known to Him, in accordance with which Christ gives His verdict. Christs sentence is simply the declaration of Gods judgment consequent upon the continuous self-revelation of God in His consciousness, whereby the ἀκούειν from the Father, which He possessed in His pre-existent state, is continued in time.

ὅτι οὐ ζητῶ, κ.τ.λ.] I cannot therefore deviate from the κρίνειν καθὼς ἀκούω; and my judgment, seeing it is not that of an individual, but divine, must be just.

τοῦ πέμψ. με, κ.τ.λ.] as it consequently accords with this my dependence upon God.

[218] Ewald renders ὅτι that: Marvel not at this, that (as I said in ver. 1) an hour is coming, etc. But in ver. 25 the thought and expression are different from our text.

[219] It is not right, as is already plain from the text and ver. 27, to say that in John the judgment is always represented as an inner fact (so even Holtzmann, Judenth. u. Christenth. p. 422). The saying, The worlds history is the worlds judgment, only partially represents Johns view; in John the last day is not without the last judgment, and this last judgment is with him the world-judgment. See on Joh_3:18.

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 5:28 . And another reason for restraining surprise is ὅτι ἔρχεται ὥρα , etc. It has been proposed to render this as if ὅτι were explanatory of τοῦτο , do not wonder at this, that an hour is coming. But (1) τοῦτο usually, though not invariably, refers to what precedes; and (2) when John says “Do not wonder that” so and so, he uses μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι without τοῦτο ; and (3) the ordinary rendering suits the passage better: Marvel not at this [that my voice gives life] because a time is coming when there will result from my voice that which if not really greater will strike you more sensibly. The bodily resurrection may be said to be greater than the spiritual as its consummation, completion, and exhibition in results. Besides, the Jews of our Lord’s time looked upon the resurrection as the grand demonstration of God’s power. But here the οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις shows that the surprise is to be occasioned by the fact that even the physically dead shall hear. πάντες … κρίσεως . That the resurrection is alluded to is shown by the change from οἱ νεκροί of Joh 5:25 to οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις . Some rise to life, some to κρίσιν , which from its opposition to ζωήν must here be equivalent to κατακρίσιν . If it is asked with regard to the righteous, With what body do they come? much more may it be asked of the condemned. The entrance into life and into condemnation are determined by conduct; how the conduct is determined is not here stated. For the expressions defining the two types of conduct see on chap. Joh 3:20-21 . That the present reception of life is the assurance of resurrection is put strikingly by Paul in 2Co 5:5 . The fact that some shall rise to condemnation discloses that even those who have not the Spirit of God in them have some kind of continuous life which maintains them in existence with their personal identity intact from the time of death to the time of resurrection. Also, that the long period spent by some between these two points has not been utilised for bringing them into fellowship with Christ is apparent. In what state they rise or to what condition they go, we are not here told. Beyond the fact of their condemnation their future is left in darkness, and was therefore probably meant to be left in darkness.

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

Vv. 28, 29. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs shall hear his voice and shall come forth, 29, those who have done good, unto a resurrection of life, those who have done evil, unto a resurrection of judgment.”

The Lord reaches here the more outward domain, both as to the resurrection (Joh 5:28), and as to the judgment (Joh 5:29). It is impossible, indeed, not to refer Joh 5:28 to the resurrection of the dead, in the proper sense.

1. The question is of a wholly future event; for Jesus purposely omits here the words: καὶ νῦν ἐστί,and now is, of Joh 5:25.

2. He does not merely say, the dead (as in Joh 5:25); He uses the expression: those who are in the tombs, an expression which must, of course, be taken in the strict sense.

3. No more does He say: those who shall hear (Joh 5:25), an expression which implies a selection between two classes, but: All those who are in the graves shall hear; that is to say, the whole number of the dead.

4. Finally, He does not speak, as previously, of a single result: life; but of two opposite results which that resurrection will have (Joh 5:29). Jesus rises, therefore, from the highest act of authority (ἐξουσία), the judgment, to the highest act of power (δύναμις), the resurrection of the body; and this is the way in which He reasons: “Marvel not because I attribute to myself the right of judging (Joh 5:27), for behold the display of divine power which it shall one day be given me to make: to bring all mankind out of the grave.”

Lucke gives quite another turn to the thought of Jesus: “You will cease to be astonished that judgment is given to me, if you call to mind that as Son of man (as Messiah), it is I who accomplish the resurrection.” Jesus according to his view, makes His starting point, as from a thing well known and acknowledged, from an article of Jewish theology, according to which the Messiah is the one who is to raise mankind from the dead. But it is still doubtful whether, at the time of Jesus, the work of the resurrection was ascribed to the Messiah. Even the later Jewish theology shows itself very much divided on this point. Some ascribe this act to the omnipotent God, others to the Messiah (Eisenmenger, Entdeckt, Judenth. Th. II. pp. 897-899). This mechanical appeal to a Jewish doctrine is, moreover, little in accord with the ever original character of the testimony of Jesus. Finally, the meaning given by Lucke implies a false interpretation of the term son of man, Joh 5:27.

There is great force in the words: shall hear His voice. “This voice which sounds in your ears at this moment, will be the one that shall awake you from the sleep of death and cause you to come forth from the tomb. Marvel not, therefore, that I claim to possess both the authority to judge and the power to raise from the dead spiritually.” Thus the last convulsion of the physical world, the universal resurrection, will be the work of that same human will which shall have renewed the moral world—that of the Son of Man. “Since death came by man,” says St. Paul with precisely the same meaning, “the resurrection of the dead comes also by man” (1Co 15:21). No doubt, it might be said to Jesus: All these are only assertions on thy part. But we must not forget that behind these affirmations there was a fact—namely, “Arise and walk,” immediately followed by a result, which was at once the text of this discourse and its point of support. The twenty-ninth verse concludes this whole development by the idea of the final judgment, of which the resurrection of the body is the condition. To be judged, the dead must be revived in the fullness of their consciousness and of their personality, which implies their restoration to bodily existence. We must not translate: “Those who shall have done good, evil works,” but: “the good, the evil works.” In these two expressions is declared, as Keil says, the total result of the life in good or evil. In the former of these expressions are included the moral sincerity which leads to faith (Joh 3:21), the act of faith itself, when the hour of calling for it has come, finally, all the fruits of sanctification which result from faith. The latter comprehends the natural inward depravity which alienates from faith, unbelief which voluntarily takes sides with sin against the light (Joh 3:19-20), finally, all the inevitable, immoral consequences of such a choice. On the use of the word ποιεῖν with ἀγαθά and πράσσειν withφαῦλα, see on Joh 3:20. The expression resurrection of life is explained by the opposite term: resurrection of judgment.The latter can only signify: resurrection leading to judgment; the former, only; resurrection introducing to the fullness of life, and that without any further necessity of a judgment in order to decide this favorable result. Luthardt andWeiss take the genitive ζωῆς, of life, as a limiting word of cause or quality: a resurrection which results from life (spiritual) already possessed (Joh 5:24-25), or which is appropriate to that life. But there are degrees in the development of life, and if this resurrection, on the one hand, presupposes life, it may also, on the other hand, have life as its result. Here also we must avoid translating κρίσις, with Osterwald, Arnaud, etc., by condemnation.

Reuss maintains that the spiritual resurrection is in this passage declared to be “greater and more important than the physical resurrection” (see on Joh 5:20); and in his attempt to make this idea accord with the: “Marvel not,” of Joh 5:28, which implies the opposite, the following is the meaning which he gives to these words: “Marvel not that I speak to you, as I have just been doing, of a moral resurrection which must precede the physical resurrection. For you hold yourselves that the Messiah is to accomplish the latter; and this is in your eyes the more astonishing.” But these words in your eyes are an importation of the commentator, intended to justify his system, according to which he has been able to write respecting the fourth Gospel that line, in manifest contradiction to the reality (Joh 5:28-29): “The idea of a future and universal judgment is repudiated as something superfluous” (II., p. 559). Scholten, feeling the powerlessness of every exegetical expedient to reach the end which is pursued, that of causing every trace of the ordinary eschatology to disappear from our Gospel, declares Joh 5:28-29 to be unauthentic, which verses, nevertheless, are not wanting in any document. He reasons thus: the activity of Jesus extending, according to pseudo-John, only to men who are in this life ..., Joh 5:28-29, must be interpolated.” Convenient method! When they do not find the Gospel such as they wish, they make it such! Hilgenfeld (Einl., p. 729), does not hesitate to affirm that our passage excludes all the Judaeo-Christian eschatology, the outward coming of Jesus, a first resurrection, etc. But even though our passage does not contain all the elements of the picture, it does not absolutely exclude any one of them. Much more, the glorious coming of the Messiah is implied in Joh 5:28, and the entire eschatological drama, which the Parousia is to inaugurate, is summed up in Joh 5:29, so far as relates to the final result, which alone is of importance here, the resurrection and the judgment as works of Jesus.

After this passage (Joh 5:19-29), the development of the idea of Joh 5:17 : “My Father worketh until now and I also work,” is completely unfolded and Jesus returns to the starting-point.

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.

All shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ at length to be judged.

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

Marvel not at this--this committal of all judgment to the Son of man.

for the hour is coming--He adds not in this case (as in Joh 5:25), "and now is," because this was not to be till the close of the whole dispensation of mercy.

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 28. Marvel not at this] I think it quite necessary to follow here, as noted above, the punctuation of both the Syriac, the Armenian, Chrysostom, Damascenus, Theophylact, Euthymius, and others; which is found also in some very good MSS. Theophylact says that the common method of reading this, which he highly objects to, was the invention of Paul of Samosata. In Joh 5:26-27, our Lord, speaking of himself as envoy of God, said, the Father had given him to have life in himself, so that, like any of the ancient prophets, he could vivify others; and that he had given him authority to execute judgment, probably referring to that judgment which he was shortly to execute on this unbelieving nation, and apparently in direct reference to Da 7:13, Behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds, c., a place which the Jews expound of the promised Messiah. In this verse he anticipates an objection, as if they had said: "This cannot be: thou art a man-thou wast born among us." Our Lord answers: Don't marvel at this, BECAUSE I am a man-for greater things than these shall be done by me: he who now addresses you, though disguised under the form of a man, shall appear in the great day to be the Judge of quick and dead: by his almighty power, he shall raise all the dead and, by his unerring wisdom and justice, shall adjudge the wicked to hell, and the righteous to heaven. The first sense, however, of this passage, appears to some the most probable; though they both amount nearly to the same meaning.

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

28. Wonder not at this. We may be apt to think that he reasons inconclusively, in drawing from the last resurrection a confirmation of what he had said; for it is not an instance of greater power to raise up bodies than to raise up minds. I reply, it is not from the fact itself that he makes a comparison between the greater and the less, but from the opinion of men; for, being carnal, they admire nothing but what is outward and visible. Hence it arises that they pass by the resurrection of the soul with little concern, while the resurrection of the body excites in them greater admiration. Another effect produced by this gross stupidity of ours is, that those things which are perceived by the eyes have a more powerful influence in producing faith than those which can be received by faith alone. As he mentions the last day, that limitation — -and now is — is not again added, but he simply declares that the time will one day arrive.

But another objection springs up; for though believers expect the resurrection of bodies, yet they cannot rely on their knowledge of it, so as to conclude that souls are now rescued from death, because bodies will one day rise out of the graves. And among ungodly men, what would be reckoned more ridiculous than to prove a thing unknown (to use a common phrase) by a thing less known? I reply, Christ here boasts of his power over the reprobate, so as to testify that the Father has committed to him the full restoration of all things; as if he had said, “What I now tell you that I have commenced, I will one day finish before your eyes.” And, indeed, when Christ now, by the voice of his Gospel, quickens souls which had been sunk in perdition, it is a sort of preparation for the last resurrection. Again, as he includes the whole human race, he immediately makes a distinction between the elect and the reprobate. This division shows that the reprobate, as they are now summoned by the voice of Christ to come to judgment, will also, by the same voice, be dragged and brought to appear at his tribunal.

But why does he mention those only who are shut up in graves, as if others would not be partakers of the resurrection, whether they have been drowned, or devoured by wild beasts, or reduced to ashes? The answer is, that as the dead are commonly buried, by the figure of speech called synecdoche, he employs a part to denote all who are already dead. And this is more emphatic than if he had said simply, the dead; for those whom death already deprived of life and light the grave withdraws, as it were, from the world.

Shall hear his voice. The voice of the Son means the sound of the trumpet, which will sound at the command by the power of Christ, (Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:52.) For though an angel will be a herald or forerunner, (1 Thessalonians 4:16,) this does not hinder what is done by the authority of the Judge, and as it were in his own person, from being ascribed to himself.

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.

(28) Marvel not at this—i.e., that He has Himself a source of life and authority to judge. There shall follow from this “greater works,” at which they shall marvel. There is an hour coming (here not with the addition “and now is,” verse .25) when the victory over physical death shall also make manifest this life, for “all that are in the graves” shall hear His voice, and the final judgment shall declare to the universe His authority to judge.

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

28. Marvel not] Comp. Joh_3:7. Marvel not that the Son can grant spiritual life to them that believe, and separate from them those who will not believe. There cometh an hour when He shall cause a general resurrection of men’s bodies, and a final separation of good from bad, a final judgment. He does not add ‘and now is,’ which is in favour of the resurrection being literal.

all that are in the graves] Not ‘whom He will;’ there are none whom He does not will to come forth from their sepulchres (see on Joh_11:7). All, whether believers or not, must rise. This shews that spiritual resurrection cannot be meant.

28, 29. The intimacy between the Father and the Son further proved by the power committed to the Son 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.

Marvel not at this,.... Either at the cure of the man that had been diseased thirty and eight years, as some think; or at the Son of God being also the son of man, as the Syriac version suggests; or rather at the dead hearing the voice of the Son of God, and living upon it; and at his having authority to execute judgment upon all, to govern and defend his own church and people, and in the last day acquit them, and to take vengeance on his and their enemies, both now and hereafter:

for the hour is coming, in which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice. This respects the general resurrection; for there will be a resurrection both of the just and unjust, of all that are in their graves; and though all that are dead are not in graves, or interred in the earth, as some are in the sea; yet, because the greater part are in graves, this phrase is chosen to express the universality of the resurrection: and this is also a proof of the resurrection of the same body; for what else are in the graves but bodies? and what else can come forth from them but the same bodies? and the time is hastening on when these bodies shall be quickened, and hear the voice of the Son of God; which whether the same with the voice of the archangel in Th1 4:16; and whether an articulate voice, or a violent clap of thunder, which is the voice of God, or only the exertion of Christ's mighty power is intended, is not easy to determine, and may be needless to inquire. Certain it is, that this voice of Christ will be attended with almighty power, as the effect following upon it will show. The Jews observe (g), that

"there are three things which do not come into the world but "by voices"; there is the voice of a living creature, as it is written, Gen 3:16, "in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children", and as it is written, Gen 30:22, "and God hearkened to her"; and there is the voice of rains, as it is written, Kg1 18:41, "for there is a voice of abundance of rain", and it is written, Psa 29:3, "the voice of the Lord is upon the waters"; and , "there is the voice of the resurrection of the dead", as it is written, Isa 40:3, "the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness";''

but that was the voice of John the Baptist. It will be the voice of the Son of God that will quicken and raise the dead.

(g) Zohar in Gen. fol. 70. 4.

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

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

Ver. 28. Marvel not at this] And yet who can but marvel at this great mystery of godliness, whereat angels stand amazed? yea, whereat he himself wonders; and therefore calls, his own name Wonderful, Isa 9:6. It is truly affirmed of Christ, that he is created and uncreated, without beginning, and yet began in time, a Jew according to the flesh, and yet God blessed for ever, &c. The manner hereof is to be believed, not discussed; admired, not pried into, &c. Mirari decet non rimari.

His voice] Put forth by the ministry of mighty angels, and called by the apostle κελευσμα, 1Th 4:16; a metaphor from watermen, who call upon one another, and strike oars together, as it were with one consent.

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.

Marvel not - Do not wonder or be astonished at this.

The hour is coming - The “time” is approaching or will be.

All that are in the graves - All the dead, of every age and nation. They are described as “in the graves.” Though many have turned to their native dust and perished from human view, yet God sees them, and can regather their remains and raise them up to life. The phrase “all that are in the graves” does not prove that the same particles of matter will be raised up, but it is equivalent to saying “all the dead.” See the notes at 1Co 15:35-38.

Shall hear his voice - He will restore them to life, and command them to appear before him. This is a most sublime description, and this will be a wonderful display of almighty power. None but God can “see” all the dead, none but he could remould their frames, and none else could command them to return to life.

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

Do not marvel at this power which I tell you the Father hath given me, to execute in the world justice and judgment; to raise some particular persons from a natural death, and whom he pleaseth from the spiritual death of sin: for the hour is coming, when all those who are in the graves, shall, by an archangel, Mat 24:31; 1Th 4:16, hear my voice, commanding them to arise; and they shall obey my command.

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

28. Marvel not at this—We may suppose that as he uttered the last words, claiming to be the Son of man, (Dan_7:13,) tokens of indignant marvel or surprise appeared on the faces and gestures of his hostile audience. But the Lord, so far from retracting, rather gave the idea a still more explicit shape and language.

The hour is coming—But not now is.

This resurrection is wholly future.

All that are in the grave—It is universal, ALL. It is bodily, and of the same body that was buried. The very bodies that are laid in the graves are the bodies that arise. The very body that dies is the body that revives.

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

Vers. 28, 29. It is impossible not to draw a distinction between the theme of these verses and that of vers. 24, 25. The Lord announces an event which is in the future altogether. The "and now is," which characterized the first resurrection of which he spoke, is here omitted. The description of the subjects of the resurrection as those "in their graves," contradistinguishes them from "the dead" of ver. 25 a phrase which will suffer several interpretations. The universality of the summons, and the impossibility of neglecting it or ignoring it, form another marked contrast to the resurrection already referred to. Marvel not at this! At what? Clearly at the entire statement that the resurrection of dead souls will be the undoubted issue of accepting Christ"s word and identifying it with the word of God. Marvel not that the judgment of the world is entrusted to "the Son," because he is both Son of man as well as Son of God. "Marvel not" is a relative word. It means obviously that there is a greater marvel still in store. Because the hour is coming; always coming, though it seemeth long coming swiftly, measured on the great clock face of the universe. Geological time, astronomical aeons, should before this have rebuked our impertinence about the delays of God, and our shallow criticism of the fulness of the times. "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." As compared with geological annals, still less with God"s eternities, it is only the day before yesterday when Adam fell; it is only yesterday that Jesus died and rose again, and tomorrow that he will come in his glory. The hour is coming when all who are in the graves shall hear his voice. The same voice that wakes the spiritually dead shah pierce the clods, shall find the buried dead, shall bring once more into the world of the visible and tangible the long forgotten lived. Every solitary life lives with him and before him. The organic clothing of the spirit, which goes on, as St. Paul suggests (2Co_5:1) from the death of the physical body till the coming of the Son of God with glory, does not render this statement more difficult, but more comprehensible. As far as this world is concerned, those who are clothed upon with the house not made with hands those who are with Christ, are to all appearance dead, and in their "graves," in their memorial places; but they will all hear the voice of the Son, and they will come, forth; they that have done good things, to the resurrection of life; they that have practised evil things, to the resurrection of judgment. They will come forth from these hiding places of fading memories. Even tombs of prophets and kings are themselves buried, covered by the graves of the many generations that have followed. The grave hidden will come forth into what we call the reality, visibility, tangibility, of things. The hour is coming on apace when Death himself shall be dead, and the mystery of time be finished. They that rise will divide themselves into two classes. The anastasis will have two forms. There is a "resurrection of life" and a "resurrection of judgment." Those who have indeed passed from spiritual death to life will not come into "judgment" (not krima or katakrima , but krisiv) when their anastasis is complete, their judgment is over, their life is secure. When those who have not heard the voice of the Son of God, have not come to the light, who are not of God nor of the truth men who have deliberately practised "evil things" without compunction or amendment, when these are called from their tombs, from their shadowy hiding places, into the presence of him who executes judgment, it will be to undergo the (krisiv) judgment. (2Co_5:10) We must, indeed, all be made manifest before the judgment throne of Christ, to receive the consequences of "the doing of well" and "the practice of evil." The issue of the one is life, and of the other is judgment. The suggestion seems to be that such judgment may issue unfavourably, but the thought is centred upon the process of the judgment. The effort of Reuss and others to draw a marked distinction between the eschatology of the synoptists and of John fails. Christ does not represent the spiritual resurrection as "greater work" than the physical resurrection. On the contrary, white he speaks of the marvelling of his hearers at his claim to quicken the spiritually dead, yet the ground of their marvel is emphatically arrested (see ver. 28) until they should recognize to the full the fact that, as Son of God and Son of man, he would call all the dead from their graves. Thoma finds admirable justification for this representation by the Johannist of the Messianic Judge, alike in the Book of Daniel, in the synoptic Gospels, in the Pauline Epistles, and Apocalypse!

Vers. 28, 29. The two resurrections.

1. The effect of Christs preceding discourse on his hearers was wonder. "They marvelled.

2. The teachings and deeds of Christ were well calculated to produce this emotion in all.

3. Each manifestation of his power and glory was only introductory to something greater still. "Marvel not at this," etc. The two resurrections the resurrection of life and that of judgment. Notice

I THEIR SIMILARITY.

1. In the physical condition supposed. The subjects of both are dead, and described as being in their graves. The good die as well as the bad. They lie down and sleep together; their graves are often in close proximity to each other, and their dust is mingled together. They are under the same physical condition, that of mortality and complete dissolution.

2. Both are similar in their wonderful effects. Both are resurrections. There wilt be a quickening into life, into full conscious existence. There will be a reunion of body and soul after a long separation; the physical effects will be similar in both. The good and the bad shall hear, and come forth.

3. Both are the result of the same Divine power.

(1) The Agent is the same in both. "The Son of God." To raise the dead is the prerogative of Divinity, and by the power of the Son of God shall the good and the bad be raised. As the resurrection forms a most important part of the great scheme of redemption, it most befittingly falls to the Redeemer"s lot to do it. He has the right and the power; and it will be exercised on this occasion on all, irrespective of character.

(2) The process in both is the same. "Shall hear the voice of the Son," etc. There will be an outward manifestation a voice and there will be a response. The same voice can awake the good and the bad. They would sleep on forever unless called by him. The voice of angels would be ineffective. But all will hear and know his voice, and come forth. Even the Son of God never addressed such a vast congregation before at once, and never with such unexceptional success. How many of his sermons missed the mark! But this grand resurrection sermon will not fail in a single instance. All shall hear and come forth.

1. The subjects of both resurrections shall come forth in their own and true character. As good or evil. Neither the sleep of death nor the Divine process of the resurrection can produce any change in character. Whatever a man soweth that shall he reap. The resurrection will not change this law, but help to carry it out. Character will cling to us forever.

2. The subjects of both shall come forth in their true character according to the character of their deeds. "They that have done good, and they that have done evil." Character in both cases is formed by actions; so that the resurrection will be the same in its process to both classes. It will be fair to both a faithful reproduction, not merely of the physical and mental, but also of the moral and spiritual self. Identity will be preserved intact. No one will have any reason to complain.

3. Both are similar in their certainty. The resurrection of the good and bad is equally certain. "All that are in the graves shall hear," etc. There is an absolute necessity for both, and there is an adequate power. Divine physical power is irresistible; Divine moral power is not so. What is absolutely necessary must come to pass. The good must be raised for the purposes of grace, the bad for the purposes of justice.

II IS THEIR DISSIMILARITY.

1. Dissimilar in the character of their subjects. The subjects of one are those who have done good, the subjects of the other are those who have done evil. And between good and evil there is an essential and an eternal difference a difference which neither eternity nor omnipotence can efface. Good will be good and evil will be evil at the last day, and the difference will be more strikingly seen.

2. Dissimilar in their results.

(1) One is the resurrection of life, the other is that of judgment. Those who have done good will not be raised to judgment, for they have passed from death unto life. Therefore they must rise unto life; the highest, the truest life of the soul a life like that of Christ himself. The other is the resurrection of judgment, of condemnation the opposite of life.

(2) The one is a reward, the other is punishment. Life is the natural consequence of goodness and faith in Christ; still it is a reward and a Divine favour. The resurrection and its consequences will be a reward to the good, but punishment to the wicked. It would be mercy to them to let them sleep on; but justice demands their resurrection to receive the wages of sin, which is death.

(3) The one will be followed by a glorious ascension, the other by horrible descent. Those who have done good will come forth to rise forever in the ever-increasing enjoyment of a pure, happy, and endless life; while those who have done evil will rise to sink deeper in spiritual death. The reunion of body and soul to the good must intensify their happiness. To the wicked it must intensify their misery. What a difference there is between the good man being awaked to join his family at the breakfast table and at the mercy seat, and the culprit being awaked in the morning to undergo the terrible sentence of the law! This is but a faint illustration of the difference between the resurrection of life and that of judgment.

LESSONS.

1. We have passed through many important crises, but the most important and marvellous one is yet in store. "The hour is coming," etc. A most important and wonderful hour! Time and eternity in an hour! We should live continually in that hour.

2. The inseparable connection between the present and the future. Our future is in our present, and our present will be reproduced in the future.

3. The importance of well doing in the present. Let us hear the voice of the Son of man, now that we may welcome the voice of the Son of God in that hour. The physical process of the resurrection is entirely future, with which we shall have nothing to do. The spiritual process is going on now, and by

Divine help we can shape our own resurrection and determine whether it is to be one of life or of judgment. B.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 time is coming - When not two or three, but all shall rise.

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

The coming of the Judgment:

v. 28. Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,

v. 29. and shall come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

v. 30. I can of Mine own self do nothing; as I hear I judge, and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.

The fact that it is Jesus Christ, the God-man Jesus, to whose human nature such great powers are given and who, in this capacity, will judge all men on the last day, should not occasion surprise and wonder, neither on the part of the Jews nor on the part of any other men. The hour appointed in God’s counsel is surely coming, when all that are in their graves will hear and obey the voice of the Son of Man. For it is an almighty voice, it has the power to call men back from physical death into life. All men will hear that voice in that hour. Though their flesh be decayed and eaten by worms, though their bones be fallen into dust, ground to ashes, and scattered to the four winds, yet their bodies, at the omnipotent command of Christ, will rise from their resting-place. They must come forth to stand before Him. And the result of His judicial investigation will be either the one or the other. They in whom the righteousness of faith ripened into righteousness of life, that proved their faith in good works, will come forth out of their graves unto the resurrection of life. They will receive, as a reward of grace, the full, eternal enjoyment of life, in an everlasting resurrection. But the others, that have given evidence of their total lack of faith by evil deeds, by acts not in conformity with the will. of God, will come forth from their graves, but only in a resurrection unto damnation, from temporal death to eternal death, a damnation which is essentially a casting away from the face of God, and which will continue throughout eternity,—what a horrible prospect for the unbelievers! That is the last great work of the Son of God, to judge the whole world on the last day. And the judgment is bound to be just, not only because Jesus is the Son of Man, with true flesh and blood, who surely will not condemn any of His brethren according to the flesh unjustly, but also because His judgment is not absolute, according to His ideas and prejudices. He speaks what He hears from the Father; His own personal, human opinion in no way comes into consideration, since He seeks to carry out only the will of the Father. While His will is perfect, divine, independent, it is still identical with that of the Father. It is for this reason that His judgment will be right beyond question. We have here another glimpse into the essence of the Triune God, into the relation between Father and Son. The Son is coordinate with the Father in all matters.

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

Our Saviour, finding the Jews amazed and astonished at his declaring his sovereign and supreme authority and power to quicken and raise whom he pleased from the dead, doth in these verses assure them that there should be a general resurrection, and an universal day of judgment both of the righteous and the wicked, and a future distribution of rewards and punishments in another life, according to men’s actions here in this life. All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.

Here observe, 1. The certainty and universality of the resurrection of the dead declared: The hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall come forth.

Observe, 2. The powerful and efficacious means, by which this great and sudden change shall be effected and accomplished in the morning of the resurrection; namely, the omnipotent voice of Christ: All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.

3. Here are the different ends of the resurrection declared, according to the difference of persons which shall then be raised, good and bad; Those that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.

Learn, 1. That there shall certainly be a resurrection of the body.

2. That all in the graves shall be raised, though not all alike: the wicked shall be raised by the power of Christ, as their judge; the righteous shall be raised by virtue of their union with Christ, as their head.

3. According as men live in this world, and go out of it, so will they be found at the resurrection, without any change of their estate; there will be then only two sorts of persons, good and bad. All that have done good, how small soever the degree of their goodness hath been, shall be rewarded: and all that have done evil, shall be everlastingly punished; for all persons shall be eternally happy, or intolerably miserable in the other world, accordingly as they manage their deportment and behaviour in this life; They that have done good, shall go, &c.

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

28–31. Marvel not at this. That he should execute judgment. Those in the graves shall hear his voice and come forth to judgment; the good, to the resurrection of life; the evil, to the resurrection of damnation; the one to life eternal, the other class to condemnation.

Can do nothing of myself. Apart from the Father.

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.

Do not be amazed at this

"This" refers to the fact that Jesus, as the Son of Man, has the power to give eternal life and to carry out judgment.

hear his voice

"hear my voice"

translationWords

amazed

grave

good

resurrection

evil

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.

28, 29. The intimacy between the Father and the Son further proved by the power committed to the Son of causing the bodily resurrection of the dead.

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.

28. μὴ θαυμ. Comp. Joh 3:7. Marvel not that the Son can grant spiritual life to them that believe, and separate from them those who will not believe. There cometh an hour when He shall cause a general resurrection of men’s bodies, and a final separation of good from bad, a final judgment. He does not add ‘and now is,’ which is in favour of the resurrection being literal.

πάντ. οἱ ἐν τ. μν. Not ‘whom He will;’ there are none whom He does not will to come forth from their sepulchres (see on Joh 11:7). All, whether believers or not, must rise. This shews that spiritual resurrection cannot be meant.

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.

28. μὴ θαυμάζετε τοῦτο (cf. v. 20). This is not to be connected with the statement “because He is the Son of Man,” as Chrysostom suggested, and as is implied in the Pesh. Syriac and in Δ. It has been stated that the Father has given to the Son the power of life and authority to pass judgment (vv. 26, 27), in reference more particularly to the spiritual life of men in this present world (vv. 24, 25). But what is still more wonderful (here is indicated the mind of the first century), these powers of quickening and of judgment extend to the physical awakening of the dead and their judgment in the body at the Last Assize. The argument is: The Son is to do greater works than works of healing, in order that the observers may marvel (as apparently they had not done when the impotent man was cured, v. 20); these greater works include the power of awakening the spiritually dead, and of being the Agent of judgment in this life, as to belief and unbelief (vv. 24, 25). This, indeed, is marvellous, but the greater marvel is what will happen at the Last Day, when the dead in the tombs shall be quickened by the voice of the Son of God, and final judgment shall be pronounced by Him on good and evil.

Such a doctrine, no doubt, has its roots in Jewish eschatology, but the Fourth Gospel cannot be understood unless it be realised that Jn. has not abandoned this, while he lays his emphasis on the spiritual conceptions of eternal life and judgment in the present, which were taught by Jesus (see Introd., p. clxi). Verses 28, 29, have been thought to be “materialistic,” but they cannot be torn from the text as an interpolation or later addition;1 they are an integral part of the argument.

With μὴ θαυμάζετε, cf. 3:7 and 1Jn 3:13.

ἔρχεται ὥρα: see on v. 25 and on 4:23

With ἀκούσουσιν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ, cf. 11:43 φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ἐκραύγασεν, Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω.

πάντες οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις κτλ. This is a plain statement of a general bodily resurrection, both of good and bad, such as is suggested in Apoc. of Baruch 50, 51, 2 Esd. 7:32f. In the N.T. it is explicitly asserted in Mat 25:46, Act 24:15, 2Co 5:10; and it is frequently implied in the Synoptic reports of the words of Jesus (e.g. Mat 5:29, Mat 5:30, Mat 5:10:28. Luk 11:32). That Christ is the Agent of this Resurrection, so far as the righteous are concerned at any rate, has appeared 6:39f. He “makes alive” both in this world and at the Day of Judgment; such is the consistent teaching of Jn.

As at v. 25, the MSS. vary as to ἀκούσουσιν (B), ἀκούσωσιν (אLΔNW 33), and ἀκούσονται (ADΓΘ).

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

The graves [τοις μνημειοις] . Rev., better; tombs. Two words are used in the New Testament for the place of burial, tafov, and mnhmeion or mnhma. The former emphasizes the idea of burial (qaptw, to bury); the latter of preserving the memory of the dead; from mimnhskw, to remind.

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