Read this passage slowly. It’s best read aloud. Identify the titles, the authority, and the cosmic nature of Jesus’ claims.
“And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.” John 5
We don’t know exactly when he uttered these words. Perhaps a day or two or more had passed since he healed the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda. We do know that he was still in Jerusalem and that he was speaking to Jewish religious leaders, mostly Pharisees. We know they were absolutely incensed at his claim to be the Son of God. It would have been a perfect time for him to waffle; to say that he was only speaking figuratively as a way of blunting the hostility. He did the opposite.
See him in your mind’s eye. He was in the busiest part of that packed urban center, speaking to a group of men, standing close so that other noises would not soften his message. He wasn’t alone. His disciples ringed the group, eager to hear. He was dressed as a simple Galilean carpenter, in a homespun robe over an inner garment, feet dusty from the walking of the day. If he was typical of the men of his country and day he was about 5’5” with dark brown hair and a moderate beard. All in all, given the claims he made and the power of his miracles, he was shockingly ordinary. But then they were captured by his eyes, his voice, and his sense of presence, remembering that this was the man who drove the money changers and animal sacrifice sellers with their booths, animals, and business right out of the temple…singlehandedly. He was not to be messed with, and no one would make the mistake of calling him ordinary.
What he said to that group of angry men must have driven them crazy.
“…the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.” Taken in context, he was not talking about some supernatural event yet to come. He was talking about right then, right there. Those around him were the dead, lost in a lifeless religiosity, desperate for the bread of life, for the light of the world, for the water of life, and in need of the good shepherd. Those who would listen and believe would live…forever…because “The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.”
“And he has given him the authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man.”The hair on the backs of their necks had to stand straight up! These men of the Old Testament were familiar with the Son of Man. He was God’s presence of righteousness, and in his days righteousness would prevail…and the righteous would live in his presence forever. He would sit on the throne of glory and try the works of men. In him the spirit of wisdom, understanding, and might literally lived. He would preside at the resurrection of the dead and would choose out the righteous and holy for life everlasting. He held life in his hand as his right. And Jesus, standing in front of them has claimed to be that Son of Man! I can hear their raised voices, see their arms wind milling in anger, feel their fury!
They were being forced to deal with the essential question surrounding Jesus…who was he…really? Their answer would have consequences, as will ours. Belief in his words would bring God’s favor and eternal life. From their responses, and from the examples taken from the ensuing two millennia, we can, with the sight of history, understand that a positive response would be life and culture changing.
Many today are still wrestling with how to answer that question, in part because of the specificity of his claims. We would love to write him off as a great teacher, or as a religious reformer, or simply as a good man. But he doesn’t give us that choice. He said and claimed that he was God’s Son, the Son of Man, the long-awaited and chosen Messiah, the very presence of God with his creation. Irrespective of his other attributes, we must either recognize him as he claimed to be or dismiss him as an insane person with delusions of grandeur. It’s an incredibly important choice.
Prayer: “Great One; God in flesh to all people, your very names are majestic. Please grant me the clarity and depth of thought to see you as you are. I rejoice that you have come into our world to bring life and I am more than eager to spend eternity in your heaven and in your presence. Help me, Father, to move beyond belief, to embrace a deep and holy love for you that will wash and fill every thought and activity of my life. For all of this day I give myself into your care. Amen.”