About this sermon
1. The unity and equality of the Father and the Son
2. Christ, the Source and Bestower of resurrection Life (vv. 25-29)
3. God’s Son, the Divine judge (vv. 22, 26-30)
Sermon transcript
Please remain standing for the reading of God’s Word. And as you’ll see in your bulletin, my sermon text for this morning is taken from the Gospel of John, John 5, verses 18 through 30. You will find that on page 1,058 in your Pew Bible. John 5, beginning at verse 18 and reading through verse 30. Dear friends, this is the Word of God. Let us hear it with reverence and awe. John 5, beginning at verse 18. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing.
For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing. And greater works than these will He show Him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. and He has given Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on my own, as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray for the Lord to bless the proclamation of His word.
Our gracious Lord and Father in heaven, once again we thank you that you have spoken to us in the scriptures a sure and certain word. We thank you, Lord, for your inerrant, infallible word, for indeed it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We pray that by your spirit the lamp of your word would shine brightly this day, We pray, Heavenly Father, that you would illuminate the Word by your Spirit and cause your Word to find a lodging place in our souls. We ask, Lord, that you would set a guard over my lips, that I might speak only that which is faithful to your Word, glorifying to your name and edifying to your people. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said. Amen. You may be seated.
As you can see from your sermon notes, the title of my sermon today is Foundations of Faith, the Resurrection of the Body. And there’s four key words that I’d encourage the children to listen for in my sermon today. The words honor, life, judge, and resurrection. Well, dear ones, as we are nearing the end of this Foundations of Faith sermon series, which has been guided by that classic Bible-based creed of the church known as the Apostles’ Creed, this morning we consider the next to the last affirmation found in the third credo, the third I believe section of this creed, namely the affirmation, I believe in the resurrection of the body. Now, if you’re a follower of Christ, if you’re a Christian, as I imagine you are all here today, you would no doubt confess to believe in the resurrection of the body.
But one of the things that we need to realize, brothers and sisters, is that our ultimate hope as followers of Christ is not simply that we get to go to heaven when we die. Although praise be to God, that is indeed a wonderful and a glorious part of our Christian hope. But rather, friends, the ultimate hope proclaimed by the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is that one day when Christ our Savior returns in visible glory, our glorified souls will be reunited with our glorified, resurrected bodies to live forever in the glorious, majestic presence of our sovereign triune God, living forever with Him in the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness dwells. That is our ultimate hope. That is the ultimate promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not just the salvation of our souls, but also the resurrection of our bodies.
The affirmation that we consider today expresses this ultimate hope and expectation of the future glorious resurrection of the body. As Christ rose from the dead in a glorified body, so we who by grace are united spiritually and savingly to him, we will likewise be raised with him in glory. Praise be to God. Now friends, there are many passages of the New Testament that speak to this ultimate hope of the resurrection of the body. But today I would have us consider a passage from the Gospel of John in which our Lord Jesus clearly and unambiguously teaches the resurrection of the body. A passage which underscores the honor that is due to the Son of God. You see, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is worthy of honor. In fact, our passage for this Lord’s Day morning teaches that Jesus the Son is worthy of as much honor as God the Father is worthy of honor.
For the Son shares in the same divine essence, the same divine being as the Father. And Jesus the Son is perfectly united with the Father in will and purpose. While God the Father and Jesus the Son are distinct persons of the Holy Trinity, with distinct roles and functions, yet they are one in divine being and essence. They are co-equal, co-eternal, consubstantial, to use the words of the Nicene Creed, for example. They are one in being and essence, as well as being one in purpose and will and divine authority. The majestic, awe-inspiring words of our Savior, as recorded in this morning’s passage, underscore this divine unity between God the Father and God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This divine unity between the Father and the Son intersects with our lives in some very powerful ways, as I hope to have us consider.
For the Father and the Son work together to bring about both the salvation of the elect and the judgment of the wicked. The Father has authorized the Son to exercise life-giving resurrection power in bestowing the gift of eternal life upon sinners. And He has also entrusted to the Son the authority to exercise all judgment. What great honor, indeed, the Father has bestowed upon His eternal Son. And therefore, what great honor and adoration and worship ought we to bring to the Son of God, beloved, the Son of God who loved us and gave His life as a ransom for us. Now, as we turn our attention to our passage for this Lord’s Day morning, we need to ask ourselves, what was the occasion that prompted our Lord Jesus to speak these powerful words? Well, if you read the entirety of John 5, you will see that in the immediately preceding section of this chapter, John records how Jesus had miraculously healed a paralyzed man at the pool called Bethesda in Jerusalem, and Jesus had healed this man on a Sabbath day.
Of course, that got the attention of the Jewish religious leaders. The Jewish religious leaders were upset with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. But in verse 17, our Lord defended his actions by saying, and these are some rather provocative words, Jesus says, my father is working until now, and I am working. My father is working until now, and I am working. See, by referring to God as my father, Jesus in this context was clearly claiming to be equal with God, a claim that, of course, enraged the Jewish authorities all the more. And not only does Jesus claim to be God by calling God, not just our Father, but my Father. Not only that, but Jesus equates his works with the works of the Father. He says, my Father is working until now, and I am working.
In other words, I’m doing the same kind of divine works that my Father is doing. And so what happens? Well, as John the Apostle comments on this interchange in verse 18, he says, this was why the Jews, meaning in particular the Jews who were hostile to Jesus, the Jewish religious authorities, this was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, I don’t believe he was actually breaking the Sabbath. I believe John implies that in their minds, in the minds of the Jewish religious authorities, Jesus was breaking the Sabbath by daring to heal someone on the Sabbath day. But not only did Jesus trample on their pharisaical misconceptions of the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.
The Jews who heard Jesus say these words, they understood what he was getting at. It’s amazing to me how many folks who claim to be Bible followers and claim to believe the Bible but reject the deity of Christ, how they miss this. They say, oh, well, Jesus never claimed to be God. Well, yes, he did. It’s right here. It’s in plain black and white. Jesus called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. And so, friends, it is in response to this conflict with the religious authorities that our Lord Jesus speaks these sublime, powerful words that we read in our text for this Lord’s Day morning. And as we turn our attention to this passage of God’s Word, we note, first of all, the unity and equality of the Father and the Son. This is the first point in your sermon outline, if you’re following along in that.
This passage emphasizes both the unity and the equality of God the Father and God the Son. Dr. Merrill Tenney, in his commentary, makes a helpful comment. He says, equality of nature, identity of objective, and subordination of will are interrelated in Christ. And these aspects of Christ’s relationship to the Father come out in this passage. Christ’s equality with the Father and his full deity are further established in this passage as Jesus continues to comment on and respond to the Jewish religious authorities who had taken such exception and offense at what he had said back in verse 17. It says in verse 19, so Jesus said to them, truly, truly, in the Greek it’s amen, amen. In other words, Listen up. This is important. Truly, truly, I say to you, again, Jesus speaks by His own divine authority.
He doesn’t quote the rabbis. He doesn’t even quote the scriptures. He says, I say to you, because He is God in the flesh. Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord. Now, He’s not commenting there on His power, He’s not denying His omnipotence, but He’s emphasizing His unity of will and purpose with the Father. He says, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. The Son does what He sees the Father doing, which again, this implies that our Lord has the same divine power to do what God the Father does. And so all of this emphasizes and supports the truth of our Lord’s full deity, His full Godhood.
And yet he does so in willing, humble submission to what he sees the Father doing, which again indicates a perfect unity of will and purpose between the Father and the Son. And then he goes on to say this in verse 20, it says, for the Father loves the Son. Let me just pause there. The Father loves His Son with infinite, perfect, pure, holy love. And if you are united by faith through grace to the Son of God, the love that the Father, the infinite love that the Father has for His Son, you are a partaker of that love, for He has loved you in Christ. Anyways, the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing. The Father hides nothing from His Son. The relationship among the persons of the Trinity is totally, completely transparent, harmonious, and glorious.
The Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing. And greater works than these will He show him, so that you may marvel.” Now in the context here, what do these greater works include? Well in the context of this passage, these greater works that Jesus will show include his work of raising the dead, both bringing spiritual new life through the new birth, as well as physical resurrection from the dead, as well as the work of judging, for all judgment has been committed to the Son. So again, Jesus emphasizes here that the Father loves the Son. And by the way, in the context What a contrast this sets between the Lord Jesus and the unbelieving Jewish leaders who rejected the Son as being equal with the Father and who refused to love the Lord Jesus.
And then verse 21, he goes on to say, for as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. Let me ask you this, brothers and sisters, If our God truly exists, if the sovereign triune God of the Bible truly exists, which indeed He does, the God who spoke the universe into being by His simple word of power, if God had the power to create and sustain the universe, Does he not have the power to raise the dead? Of course he does. He is omnipotent, all-powerful. And so our atheist and skeptic friends who scoff at and mock at the truth of the resurrection of Jesus or the biblical teaching on the future resurrection of the body and bring excuses like, well, what about people who’ve you know, been incinerated in a nuclear holocaust?
Or what about people whose bodies have been eaten by wild animals and so forth? God, that’s not a problem for God. He knows how to put us back together. He is the omnipotent sovereign God. And Jesus says, the Father raises the dead, no problems. But notice what he says in verse 21. He says, for as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. Jesus is claiming for himself as the Son of God the same power to raise the dead that God the Father has. And again, this is a clear claim to full deity and equality with the Father. And then verse 22, he goes on to say, for the father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the son. What an honor the father has bestowed upon his son in committing all judgment to the son of God.
All judgment has been committed to the son. And this must have really gotten the attention of the Jewish religious authorities, because according to the Old Testament, only God Only God has the right and authority to judge humanity. And yet Jesus is saying, the Father has given that authority to the Son, to me, as the Son of God. This again, all throughout this passage, Jesus is claiming to be God Almighty, the Word made flesh, God incarnate. And not only that, look at what he says in verse 23. Why has the Father given all judgment to the Son? Verse 23, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The Son of God is to be honored with the same level of worship and adoration and praise and obedience and service as God the Father. which again underscores Christ’s full deity and equality with the Father.
It goes on to say, whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. And this is why, brothers and sisters, those religions that claim to believe in one true God, that worship a monotheistic creator God, I’m thinking of religions like Judaism and Islam, those religions reject the deity of Christ. They reject Christ as the divine Son of God. And they claim to be honoring the one God by doing so, but Jesus says, no, it’s the Father’s will that the Son be honored just as the Father is honored. And he says, whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Those who reject the deity of Christ dishonor the Father. the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the Son is to receive honor, which implies worship, by the way, just as the Father is to receive worship.
And so, friends, in this passage, we see the Son’s perfect unity of will and purpose with God the Father. This is the main thrust of what Jesus is getting at here in this passage. It’s also, it clearly brought out later on in this passage, for example, in verses 26 and 27, where Jesus says, for as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. As John wrote earlier in this gospel of Christ, in him was life and the life was the light of men. Life is found in Jesus Christ. He is the source, the divine source of all light and life. For he is one with the Father and the Spirit in the unity of the Godhead. And then it goes on to say in verse 27, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man.
Jesus is the messianic son of man. He is the anointed one, the God-man, the word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. Beloved, if Jesus, the Son of God, is equal with God the Father, and united with Him in purpose and will, then He deserves to receive honor equal to that which is given to the Father. Dear ones, let us strive by the grace of God to honor the Son of God by our worship, by our obedience, by our service, and by our lives. For as we honor the Son, the Father, as well as the Spirit, are also honored. What does this have to do with the resurrection of the body, Pastor? Well, it’s all important foundation truth when it comes to this matter of the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. And that brings me to my next point as we focus especially on verses 25 to 29 of our passage.
Notice next, we learn here of Christ as the source and bestower of resurrection life. Christ, my friends, Jesus Christ is the source and bestower of resurrection. Now, as a prelude to this point, look again at verse 24. And this is one of my favorite passages. It’s such a comforting passage in terms of presenting us with gospel promises, gospel truth. Jesus says, truly, truly, in other words, this is what I’m telling you is absolutely true Everything Jesus says, of course, is absolutely true, but Jesus emphasizes the truth and importance of what he’s about to say. Truly, truly, amen, amen. I say to you, whoever hears my word, meaning the gospel, the good news, grace and salvation, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has what? eternal life. Not may have eternal life, might have eternal life, but has, here and now, has eternal life.
You don’t have to wait for the future to enjoy the gift of eternal life. Eternal life is a gift that God bestows upon those who come to repent and believe in Christ today. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. And he doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say, he does not come into judgment. Now the Bible does teach that believers and unbelievers alike will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. This is not denying that. Jesus is not denying that. But he’s talking here about a judgment unto condemnation. He who believes in Christ does not come into judgment in the sense of condemnation, but has already passed from a state of spiritual death to eternal life. And so with this in mind, And of course, Jesus can only say this because he has the power and the authority to give life to whom he wills, as we learned back in verse 21 and as is also emphasized in verse 26, where Jesus says that the father has granted the son to have life in himself.
But that brings us to verse 25. Notice, friends, that the voice of the Son now raises the spiritually dead to new spiritual life. Verse 25, Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here. In other words, this is not something you have to wait for. An hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Now in the context of this passage, it seems that Jesus is here speaking of the spiritually dead. Jesus says, The dead, the spiritually dead, will in this hour hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. An hour is coming and is now here. Now this is something, again, that Christ now does, and he does this through the word that is proclaimed, that word that he spoke about in verse 24, where Jesus says, whoever hears my word, that’s the gospel, the good news.
Whoever hears my word, not just hears it externally, hears it as a matter of intellectual information alone, but who hears and embraces it by faith. Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. And this is what Jesus is speaking of here. This is something that Christ now does. And Christ continues to do this even today in the 21st century. As the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed and the spirit blesses that proclamation, the spirit through the word brings spiritually dead sinners to newness of life in union with Jesus Christ. Of course, you know, the word alone is not sufficient. The spirit has to use the word, but the Bible does say faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. This is why we emphasize the importance of preaching, the centrality of the word, because it is through the word that Jesus, by his spirit, operates in bringing sinners to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But Jesus then goes on to say that the voice of the Son will one day raise the physically dead on the final day of judgment. It says in verses 28 and 29, do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming. And notice, by the way, in verse 28, Jesus says an hour is coming, but he does not add the words and is now here, because this is something that’s still in the future. Here he is speaking not of a spiritual resurrection or the new birth that comes through the word being proclaimed, as the spirit uses that word, but here he is speaking of the physical resurrection of the body at the end of the age. He says, do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out I believe in the resurrection of the body because of passages like this.
It makes it so clear. There will be a time when Jesus speaks his creative, re-creative voice and physically and bodily raises the dead at the end of this age and they will come out of their graves and then it goes on to say those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Now again, he’s not He’s not proclaiming here that our final salvation is by works or anything of that sort. Those who have done good in the context of this passage are those who’ve heard the word with faith and believed in the Son of God. Those who have done evil are those who have rejected and not honored the Son by disbelieving and rejecting his gospel. Do not marvel at this, an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Dear ones, if the Son of God is the divine source and bestower of both spiritual and physical resurrection life, then hearing His voice through the word, the message of the gospel, and believing that word is the only way that we can be assured that we have received the gift of eternal life in this present time. And the only assurance that we will be raised to the resurrection of life on the last day is if we now in this period of redemptive history, receive and trust in Christ, in Christ alone, for our salvation. Dear listener, do you have the assurance that you have heard the voice of God’s Son summon you to himself in the gospel? Whoever you are, Each and every one of you, brothers and sisters, and those who may yet be apart from the kingdom, God the Son in the gospel speaks to you.
Jesus summons you to repent of your sin, to turn to Christ in repentance and faith. Jesus says, and I know I quote this often, but it’s so important. Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Are you wearied and burdened by sin, your sin? Jesus offers you rest, spiritual, eternal rest. Come to Him in faith. Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, trusting Him for salvation. And the Bible says, you will be saved. Turn to Christ today. Heed His summons. Heed His call to believe and repent. For Jesus died on the cross to save sinners, just like you and me. And He rose from the dead so that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life. And this brings me to my final point briefly.
We learn in this passage that God’s son is the divine judge. That’s the final point on your sermon outline. God’s son is the divine judge. When will the resurrection of the body occur? According to the scriptures, it will occur when Jesus returns in glory at the end of this age. And he will raise the dead and judge humanity. We learn back in verse 22 that the Father has entrusted this judgment to the Son. Again, as verse 22 says, for the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. And then also in verses 26 through 30, this is clearly declared. And in verse 30, Jesus assures us that his judgment is just because his judgment is in perfect harmony with the Father’s judgment. As Jesus says in verse 30, I can do nothing on my own.
As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Who’s the one who sent the Son? The Father, God, the Father. Now again, notice in verses 28 and 29 that the resurrection of life and the resurrection of judgment will happen at one and the same time. It says in verse 28, do not marvel at this for an hour is coming. He’s not saying, well, there’s gonna be two resurrections of the dead. There’s gonna be a resurrection of the righteous and a resurrection of the wicked, and they’ll take place at different times. No, that’s not what he says. He says an hour is coming, an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs, not just some, but all who are in the tombs will hear his voice.
This is important to notice because there are some schemes of end time understanding or eschatology which teach that there will be separate resurrection events in the future, but that’s not what Jesus teaches. He will return once, not twice or more than twice. He will return once in glory, and at that return, he will raise all who are in the tombs, all of the dead, But then it goes on to say in verse 29, that these who are raised from the dead will come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. He’s not saying there’s two separate resurrections, but that the resurrection will have two different effects, if you will. The resurrection of life in the case of those who by grace have believed in Christ and obviously lived out the implications of that in their lives.
The resurrection of judgment to those in the case of those who have continued impenitent in their sin and rebellion. Dear ones, again, to wrap up our time in the word for this morning or now this afternoon, all judgment has been given by the Father to the Son. Jesus Christ, as the Messianic Anointed One, is the Supreme King and Judge who will have the honor of presiding over the proceedings of that great and final Judgment Day, that final Judgment Day that will occur when Jesus returns in glory and raises us bodily from the dead. As those who by sovereign grace have been united to Christ the Son as Lord and Savior, we have no cause to fear Christ as our judge, for we have already passed from death unto life. The good news is that Christ our judge has taken the judgment that we deserve upon himself, and he fully satisfied for our sins by his atoning death on the cross.
That’s why on the cross Jesus said what? Okay, well, one stage of the salvation process? No, he said, it is finished. The penalty has been paid. Your sins have been atoned for, believer. So while we should reverence and honor our heavenly judge, the Lord Jesus Christ, at the same time, we need not shrink from him in terror, for our holy judge is our perfect savior. We who have believed in him already have eternal life, as verse 24 tells us. Indeed, Jesus promises us that we will not come into judgment, for we have already passed from death unto life eternal. Hallelujah. Not only that, but we who know and trust him can look forward to the resurrection of the body, for ours will be a resurrection of life, not a resurrection of judgment. It’s all by the grace of God.
So be comforted by these truths, dear ones, and let’s proclaim this good news to others. Amen, let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you. that Christ is indeed the resurrection and the life. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have granted unto us, unworthy sinners though we be, you have graciously bestowed newness of life upon us. You’ve called us out of the deadness and darkness of our sin into the wonderful, marvelous light of new life. resurrection life. Oh Lord, we ask that as we make our journey through this life and as we encounter not only distresses in our souls but also pains in our bodies as our bodies get old and wear out, we pray, Heavenly Father, that the truth and hope, the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the body would give us strength and would keep our eyes fixed upon you, Lord.
We pray these things in your name, and all of God’s people said, amen. Let’s respond to what we’ve heard proclaimed by rising and we’ll sing as our closing hymn number 470, when this passing world is done, 470.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.