Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 5:28
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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; contemplates evil from the former point of view, and 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 (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. , as used in the New Testament, has reached this latest stage of its meaning; and , are set over against 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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. Marvel not at thisthiscommittal of all judgment to the Son of man.
for the hour is comingHeadds not in this case (as in Joh5:25), “and now is,” because this was not to be tillthe close of the whole dispensation of mercy.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 1Th 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, Ge 3:16, “in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children”, and as it is written, Ge 30:22, “and God hearkened to her”; and there is the voice of rains, as it is written, 1Ki 18:41, “for there is a voice of abundance of rain”, and it is written, Ps 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the tombs ( ). (grave) presents the notion of burial (, to bury) as in Mt 23:27, (from , , to remind) is a memorial (sepulchre as a monument). Jesus claims not only the power of life (spiritual) and of judgement, but of power to quicken the actual dead at the Last Day. They will hear his voice and come out (, future middle indicative of ). A general judgement and a general bodily resurrection we have here for both good and bad as in Matt 25:46; Acts 24:15; 2Cor 5:10 and as often implied in the words of Jesus (Matt 5:29; Matt 10:28; Luke 11:32). In Joh 6:39 Jesus asserts that he will raise up the righteous.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The graves [ ] . 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.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Marvel not at this: (me thaumazete touto) “Do not marvel or be astounded by this,” that my voice gives life, do not wonder.
2) “For the hour is coming,” (hoti erchetai hora) “Because there approaches an hour,” alluding to one when visible evidence will be more evident, that He gives life, for such will be literal in physically resurrected bodies, 1Ti 4:1-2.
3) “In the which all that are in the graves,” (en he pantes hoi en tois mnemeiois) “All those (whose bodies) are in the tombs or graves,” without exception, 1Co 15:35-49.
4) “Shall hear his voice,” (akousousin tes phones autou) “Will hear his voice,” to arise, to get up, to come forth, for an appearance at 1) The judgement seat of rewards, or later, 2) The judgement hour (period) of degrees of retribution punishment, at the Great White Throne Judgement, 1Th 4:13-18; Rev 20:11-14; 1Co 15:22-23. Though the hour, period, or occasion for each comes, it is not at the same hour that the righteous and the wicked are to be raised, For there will be a period of about one thousand years between the time of the resurrection and the judgement of the righteous and the wicked, Rev 20:1-6; Rev 20:11-15.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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, (103) 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, (Mat 24:31; 1Co 15:52.) For though an angel will be a herald or forerunner, (1Th 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.
(103) “ Des contempteurs de Dieu et incredules;” “with despisers of God and unbelievers.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) Marvel not at thisi.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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have practised evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
Now Jesus moves on to the idea of the final resurrection. The picture is stirring. One day it will be the voice of Jesus that will command the dead to come forth. Then some will enjoy the resurrection of life, for they are those who have previously heard His voice and have received life, and their resurrection will simply be entering more fully into that life in a new resurrection body. Others will experience the resurrection of judgment, because they have never received life.
‘Those who have done good.’ This includes the thought that they have received His word and believed on Him. As He says elsewhere this is what doing the works of God involves (Joh 6:29). But those who claim to have received the gift of eternal life will reveal the genuineness of what they have received by their lives. ‘By their words they will be justified’ (Mat 12:37). It is impossible to have the new life and live the old life (compare 2Co 5:17; Rom 6:1-11; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:9-10). To do good is to do what God requires. It signifies full acceptability with God. Thus it includes having been reconciled to God and then having responded in an obedient life.
‘Those who have practised evil.’ Those who have not responded to Jesus’ words in this life will come forth to the resurrection of judgment, for they will have refused life. And this refusal will be revealed by the way they live and by their attitude to Him. They will practise selfishness and wrongdoing. No one was more conscious of failure than the genuine Pharisee, for he struggled to obey the Law and yet found himself failing again and again. But now he too is faced with the consequence, a consequence true for all. If they refuse the transforming of their lives through believing in Christ they can only receive judgment.
Behind the words are a contrast too, for in the Last Day all the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and respond. The Word will speak. Yet in the present it is only believers who hear His voice. There is no response to that voice in the hearts of the Judaisers. They are proving themselves to be worse than dead.
So Jesus has made clear what He really is. He not only reveals the Father’s workings while on earth, but He also works with the Father and offers eternal life now to all who hear His voice and respond from the heart, and it will in fact be His voice also which raises men at the last day, giving resurrection life to those who have responded to Him, and passing judgment on those have refused to hear His voice. They will have to obey His voice, either now or then, but if it is then it will be too late.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
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.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Joh 5:28-30. Marvel not at this; “Be not surprised at my saying that the Son has power to raise a few particular persons from the dead, and authority to inflict judgment on some particular offenders: a far greater power is committedto him, even that of raising all men at the last day, and of judging and rewarding them according to theirworks. Now in this judgment I will not act absolutely or arbitrarily, but according to the laws of equity unalterably established by my Father. So that I shall not act therein so properly by my own, as by my Father’s authority.” I can of mine own self do nothing; as I hear, I judge, Joh 5:30 in allusion to human courts, where the judges found their sentences upon the testimony of witnesses, and the laws of their country; yet the expression by no means implies that our Lord, at the great day, shall receive information from any one whatsoever, concerning the persons whom he is to judge: having been himself privy totheir actions, he needs no evidence; but knows all things that ever were thought, said, or done by mankind, from the beginning to the end of time, fully and certainly. He goes on, “And my judgment is just; not only because it is thus a judgment according to truth and equity, but likewise because I seek not mine own will,&c. I have no interests to pursue, no inclination to fulfil, different from that of my Father.” See Heb 10:9-10. Mat 26:39.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
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 as the absolute , to whom Baur refers the whole passage, Joh 5:20 ff.; see, on the contrary, Brckner) 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 would have to mean merely the spiritually dead, which would be quite out of keeping with . Jesus Himself intimates by the words that He here is passing from the spiritually dead, who thus far have been spoken of, to the actual dead.
] 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.
] Observe that no , as in Joh 5:25 , could be added here.
] 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 , 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 , which is capable of prophetic extension.
, . . .] 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 (1Co 15:23 ; comp. Mat 25:31 sqq.), implies the descensus Christi ad inferos .
. ] 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 Messiah’s kingdom. Comp. 2Ma 7:14 : ; Dan 12:2 ; Rom 5:18 : .
] to which judgment pertains, and judgment, according to the context, in a condemnatory sense (to eternal death in Gehenna); and accordingly does not exclude an act of judgment, which awards the .
As to the distinction between and , see on Joh 3:20-21 . Joh 5:30 further adds the guarantee of the rectitude of this , 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 , , etc.
] 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. Christ’s sentence is simply the declaration of God’s judgment consequent upon the continuous self-revelation of God in His consciousness, whereby the from the Father, which He possessed in His pre-existent state, is continued in time.
, . . .] “I cannot therefore deviate from the ; and my judgment, seeing it is not that of an individual, but divine, must be just.”
. , . . .] as it consequently accords with this my dependence upon God.
[218] Ewald renders 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 world’s history is the world’s judgment,” only partially represents John’s 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 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1628
THE RESURRECTION
Joh 5:28-29. The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 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.
FROM the resurrection of Christ we may infer, that we ourselves also shall rise from the dead. Indeed, he is called the first-fruits of them that slept; and therefore we may expect that there will be a complete harvest in due time. To this effect also we are informed in the words before us: from which we shall be naturally led to consider,
I.
The certainty of the resurrection
By many it has been thought incredible that God should raise the dead. But their error proceeds from not knowing the Scriptures, or the power of God [Note: Mat 22:23; Mat 22:29.]. Consider then,
1.
What the Scriptures speak concerning it
[They have recorded many instances wherein the dead have been raised [Note: 1Ki 17:17-23. 2Ki 4:32-37. Luk 7:12-15. Joh 11:43-44. Act 9:36-41 and especially Mat 27:52-53.] Even in the Old Testament there are not wanting many strong intimations of it [Note: Exo 3:6. with Mar 12:26-27. Isa 26:19. Hos 13:14. with 1Co 15:54-55 and especially Job 19:25-27.] and in the New, it is declared in every page [Note: passim. See 1 Corinthians 15.] ]
2.
The power of God to effect it
[See what God has done: look at the whole creation; and then ask, Whether He who formed the universe out of nothing, cannot as easily re-unite our scattered atoms (whatever changes then may have undergone), and restore to every one his own body? Yes; it was the voice of Jesus that spake the universe into existence; and that same voice will call forth into renewed existence all that are mouldered in their graves. See, moreover, what our God is doing. We forbear to notice the succession of day and night, and summer and winter; or the reviviscency of birds and insects after long intervals of suspended animation. We call your attention rather to the changes wrought upon the seed that is cast into the earth: it dies, and rises again, in appearance different, in reality the same. What more striking image of the resurrection could be presented before our eyes? Surely in this we have a pattern of the change that shall be accomplished in us at the last day; and a pledge that our bodies, which are sown in corruption, weakness, and dishonour, shall be raised in incorruption, power, and glory.]
As no doubt can remain upon our minds respecting the certainty of the resurrection, let us next consider,
II.
The issue of it
There will be an immense difference between the states of different men
[Who can conceive all that is implied in a resurrection to life? If in some respects we may borrow images from the present life in order to illustrate it, in other respects that new and heavenly life will form a perfect contrast to all that we now experience. It is true, that all the faculties of our bodies shall be employed in the service of our God: but it is also true, that they shall never clog the soul in its operations; their capacities shall be exceedingly enlarged; they shall never be subject to weariness or want of any kind; they shall be as full of activity and blessedness as the soul itself
On the other hand, Who shall declare what is the full import of a resurrection to damnation? We are shocked at the very sound of the word damnation: how much more should we be so, if we knew all that is comprehended in it! It is in vain to attempt to describe the anguish which the body shall endure in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. But we are persuaded that the soul will bitterly bewail the necessity it is under of being re-united to that body, which once, instead of governing it aright, it pampered and obeyed And its misery will be fearfully augmented by the increased capacity of anguish which it will derive from its union with the body ]
This difference will correspond with, and be founded on, their moral characters
[The Scriptures uniformly declare the connexion that subsists between our present conduct and our future state. Nor need we be afraid of stating the truth precisely in the same manner, provided we bear in mind what is implied in doing good, and doing evil. To do good is, to serve God cheerfully and without reserve. Now the very first commandment of God is, that we believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. This at once lays the axe to the root of all self-righteousness; and necessitates us to look unto Christ both for righteousness and strength. And we do not hesitate to say, that all who serve God in conformity with this fundamental principle, shall have a resurrection to life.
If, on the contrary, we do evil, neglecting this adorable Saviour, and living to ourselves rather than to him, we shall certainly come forth to everlasting shame and contempt [Note: Dan 12:2.].
Each of these truths is so firmly asserted in the Scriptures, that no doubt of them can be entertained [Note: Gal 6:7-8. Rom 2:6-10.]. We want only to have them brought home with more feeling to our hearts.]
Address
[Consider for which of these states you are preparing. You may delay, under the idea that the time will never come: but the hour is coming, as fast as the wings of time can bring it forward. Let not your preparation for it be deferred: for life is uncertain; and as death finds you, so will judgment find you. If you live and die obedient followers of Christ, you will be happy. If you rely not on him, or devote not yourselves unreservedly to him, it will not be in the power of God himself to save you: for he cannot deny himself; and he has expressly said, that all such persons shall have a resurrection to damnation.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
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 9:6Isa 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 , 1Th 4:16 ; a metaphor from watermen, who call upon one another, and strike oars together, as it were with one consent.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28, 29. ] ., as ch. Joh 3:7 , introduces a matter of even greater wonder to them; the astounding proof which shall be given in the face of the universe that this is so.
, but not this time, because He is now speaking of the great day of the resurrection: when not merely , but , shall hear His voice, and are not specified, because all shall hear in the fullest sense. Observe that here, as elsewhere, when the judgment according to works is spoken of, it is the great general resurrection of Mat 25:31-46 , which (and the notes) compare. So here we have not and , but the categories reach far wider, including indeed in this most general form the first resurrection unto life also and the two great classes are described as . and .
On the difference between and , see note on ch. Joh 3:20-21 .
Observe, that and stand opposed here, as in Joh 5:24 : not that there is no such thing as an (Schleiermacher, in Stier, iv. 194, edn. 2), but that it is involved in this .
Olshausen observes (ii. 153) that this, and Act 24:15 , are the only direct declarations in the N.T. of a bodily resurrection of the unjust as well as of the just. It is implied in some places, e.g. Mat 10:28 , and less plamly in Mat 25:34 ff.: Rev 20:5 ; Rev 20:12 , and directly asserted in the O.T., Dan 12:2 . In 1Co 15 , as the object was to convince believers in Christ of the truth of the resurrection of their bodies, no allusion is made to those who are not believers.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 5:28 . And another reason for restraining surprise is , etc. It has been proposed to render this as if were explanatory of , do not wonder at this, that an hour is coming. But (1) usually, though not invariably, refers to what precedes; and (2) when John says “Do not wonder that” so and so, he uses without ; 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 shows that the surprise is to be occasioned by the fact that even the physically dead shall hear. . That the resurrection is alluded to is shown by the change from of Joh 5:25 to . Some rise to life, some to , which from its opposition to must here be equivalent to . 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.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the graves = the tombs. Therefore they are not in heaven or hell.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28, 29.] ., as ch. Joh 3:7, introduces a matter of even greater wonder to them;-the astounding proof which shall be given in the face of the universe that this is so.
, but not this time,-because He is now speaking of the great day of the resurrection: when not merely , but , shall hear His voice, and are not specified, because all shall hear in the fullest sense. Observe that here, as elsewhere, when the judgment according to works is spoken of, it is the great general resurrection of Mat 25:31-46, which (and the notes) compare. So here we have not and , but the categories reach far wider, including indeed in this most general form the first resurrection unto life also-and the two great classes are described as . and .
On the difference between and , see note on ch. Joh 3:20-21.
Observe, that and stand opposed here, as in Joh 5:24 :-not that there is no such thing as an (Schleiermacher, in Stier, iv. 194, edn. 2), but that it is involved in this .
Olshausen observes (ii. 153) that this, and Act 24:15, are the only direct declarations in the N.T. of a bodily resurrection of the unjust as well as of the just. It is implied in some places, e.g. Mat 10:28, and less plamly in Mat 25:34 ff.: Rev 20:5; Rev 20:12, and directly asserted in the O.T., Dan 12:2. In 1 Corinthians 15,-as the object was to convince believers in Christ of the truth of the resurrection of their bodies,-no allusion is made to those who are not believers.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 5:28. , 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: , 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.-, 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.]-, 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.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 5:28
Joh 5:28
Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice,-He more directly points out that all good and bad shall come forth from the grave.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Marvel: Joh 5:20, Joh 3:7, Act 3:12
for: Joh 6:39, Joh 6:40, Joh 11:25, Job 19:25, Job 19:26, Isa 26:19, Eze 37:1-10, Hos 13:14, 1Co 15:22, 1Co 15:42-54, Phi 3:21, 1Th 4:14-17, Rev 20:12
Reciprocal: 1Ki 17:22 – and he revived 2Ki 13:21 – touched Job 14:14 – shall he live Psa 68:20 – unto Eze 37:4 – O ye Dan 12:2 – some to everlasting life Mat 22:30 – in the Mat 25:6 – a cry Mar 5:41 – Damsel Luk 7:14 – Young Luk 8:54 – Maid Joh 5:19 – and Joh 5:25 – when Joh 11:24 – I know Joh 16:32 – the hour Act 24:15 – that Act 26:8 – General Rom 8:11 – he that raised 1Co 6:14 – by Phi 2:10 – under 1Pe 4:5 – that Rev 20:13 – the sea
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE TWO RESURRECTIONS
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, 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.
Joh 5:28-29
Our Blessed Lord had just been speaking of the change from a life of sin to a life of holiness through faith in Him, as a passing out of death into life. It is a truth which runs through all the teaching of our Lord and His Apostles, that those are dead in the sight of God who are living in sin. They are spoken of as dead in trespasses and sins. It is not only that those who are living in sin are under sentence of eternal death so long as they do not truly repent; it is not only that when they have done their work for that hard and deceitful mastersinthey will get eternal death for their wages. But they are dead already: alive to the things of this world, but dead to the things of the world to come; dead to all that is good and heavenly, caring no more for spiritual things, such as prayer, worship, the Bible, Sacraments, and all that has to do with God and Christ and heaven, than a dead body cares for the things of this world. Awfully true of too many are those words which our Blessed Lord addressed to the Church in Sardis, I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
I. It is such dead people as these that our Lord meant when He said, The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. The voice of Jesus, heard, listened to, and obeyed, had power then, and has power now, to awaken souls from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. So He said again, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Blessed are they who hear the voice of Jesus calling to themAwake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. The change that takes place in a man who is awakened by that voice, and turns from a life of sin to a life of righteousness, is nothing less than passing out of death into life. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. It is like Lazarus coming forth at the call of Jesus from the tomb, where he had lain bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and then loosed and let go.
II. The resurrection of the body.So, when our Blessed Lord had spoken of that wonder which was even then taking place, and should continue to take placethe passing of souls out of spiritual death into spiritual life through faith in Him, He goes on to speak of the resurrection of the body. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, 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. All that are in the graves shall hear His voice. Wonderful! Those bodies that have long since become a mere handful of dust, those dry bones that have long since lost their clothing of flesh, they shall all come forth at His voice, once more living bodies, some to the resurrection of life, some to the resurrection of damnation. Go and stand in the churchyard in some quiet hour, and try to picture to yourself that wonderful resurrection scene. How still the place is! It is Gods acre, all sown with human bodies. There lie the people who dwelt in the houses and farms and cottages which you inhabit nowwho tilled the same fields which you till, and went about the same daily tasks and employments which you are busied with day by day, and met together in the same church in which we are gathered now. Some of them you remember well, some of them were parents, brothers, sisters, children, friends, neighbours, of you who are living now. Some lived and died and were laid there long before the oldest of you were born. Some did good and some did evil and never repented of the evil, but died as they had lived, in their sins. Good and bad, penitent and impenitent, all lie side by side in those quiet graves, and it seems as if there was now no difference between them and all had fared alike. If you read the inscriptions on the grave-stones, you would wonder, as a child once did, where they buried all the wicked people. Ah, well, it is not for us to judge the departed. We must leave that to God Who alone knows the hearts of men. Christian charity bids us hope the best we can, even of those who may have seemed to us unchanged from evil to the last. So our beautiful funeral service is full of hope. We pray that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in Jesus, as our hope is this our brother or sister doth. It may be a very bright and confident hope, it may be in some sad cases a very faint hope; we may not judge, we are not forbidden to hope. It is true that in one part of the service the hope seems to many people too confident. Take the case of a man who has died without giving any sign of true repentance, of a changed heart; who perhaps has used bad language even on his death-bed, or been suddenly cut off in his sinscan it be right, some people ask, to commit that mans body to the ground with such words of hope as these?Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of His great mercy to take unto Himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ. But these words are very much misunderstood. It is not, in sure and certain hope of his resurrection to eternal life. There is no sure and certain hope expressed in the case of the particular person whose body is then being committed to the ground. The words merely declare that we, as Christians, look forward with sure and certain hope to the resurrection to eternal life. In that faith and hope we commit to the ground the bodies of those who, having been baptized, were, at least in outward profession, Christians. There is no sure and certain hope expressed that each person so buried will have his or her part in that resurrection to eternal life. That we must leave to God. We know from our Saviours words that there is a resurrection to damnation as well as a resurrection to eternal life. And there are sad cases in which, while we have a sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life for all true Christians, we must have a dreadful fear that their resurrection will be only to judgment and damnation.
III. And what of ourselves?We have all, as Christians, a sure and certain hope that there will be a resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But what sort of hope have we that we shall have a share in it, and that we shall be delivered from that terrible resurrection to damnation? For we must die, and our spirits return to God Who gave them; and our bodies must be laid in the grave, until that great resurrection day. Let us not deceive ourselves with vain and groundless hopes in such a matter as this. A mistake here can never be set right. We cannot expect to lead a life of sin and afterwards rise to a life of glory. We cannot live without God here, and die with a sure and certain hope of a resurrection to be with God for evermore. We cannot shut our ears and hearts against the voice of the Son of God now, and lie down in the hope of hearing His voice calling us to come forth to the resurrection of life in that day. No; if we would live and die in the blessed and comforting hope of that resurrection, we must hear His voice now, and open our hearts to Him Who is calling us to arise from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. We must believe in Him with such a faith as will make us dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We can have eternal life now. It is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prebendary J. E. Vernon.
Illustration
There is no more fatal mistake than that which people make who go on in sin, thinking that there is plenty of time, and that they can leave off their sins and live a Christian life when they choose. They cannot. Sin is an awful power. It holds the soul that has given way to it with a grip as firm as that of death. A man who has lived for some time in the habit of yielding to sin, cannot break loose from it just when he chooses. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Take care, then, of the first step in a downward course. Do not say to yourself, I will not go too far, I can stop when I choose. A man might just as well plunge into a rapid river, saying that he meant to come out as soon as he felt the current bearing him away, or go upon ice marked dangerous, intending to come off when he felt it breaking beneath him. Once let yourself fall under the power of sin, and you can no more get free when you choose than a corpse can raise itself from the grave. It is a miracle of Divine grace when a sinner turns from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God. He cannot do it by his own will. True conversion after a certain age is rare, and when it does take place, it is like life from the dead. It is, indeed, a greater miracle than a resurrection from the dead: for they that are in the graves must come forth when they hear the voice of the Son of God; but those that are dead in sin have the dreadful power of refusing to hear His voice calling them from the death of sin to the life of righteousness.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
8
Jesus passes from figurative and spiritual language, to literal or physical. The graves are the enclosures for the bodies of those who have died, through separation of soul and body. These dead shall be brought out of their graves literally by the call of Jesus on the day of the general resurrection.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 5:28. Marvel not at this. Jesus has been speaking of works at which they may well marvel (Joh 5:20); but great as these may be, there is yet a greater.
Because an hour cometh, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice. That the future alone is spoken of is clear from the omission of the words and now is found in Joh 5:25. The resurrection is not spiritual and figurative, for the words are all that are in the graves, not all that have heard,shall go forth, not shall live. The consummation of the work of Jesus is the general resurrection both of the righteous and the wicked. Now all shall hear His voice, to which before (Joh 5:25) some only had given heed. All shall go forth, but not all to a resurrection of life.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
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.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
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: ,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 (), the judgment, to the highest act of power (), 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 worldthat 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 factnamely, 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 with and with, 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 , 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 , 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.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 28
Marvel not at this; at what was said in John 5:25, in respect to the power of the Son to bestow spiritual life; for, as he proceeds to say, the time is coming when those who are literally dead shall be raised by his voice; the expression, “all that are in the graves,” referring to those whose bodies are dead.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5:28 {7} Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
(7) All will eventually appear before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus urged His hearers not to marvel that it would be His voice that would summon the dead eventually (cf. Joh 11:43). All the dead will hear the Son of Man’s voice in the future calling them forth to judgment. Believers are those who do good, which involves believing on the Son (Joh 6:29; cf. Joh 3:21). Theirs will be a resurrection resulting in eternal life. Those who do evil by not believing on the Son (Joh 3:36; cf. Joh 3:19) will experience eternal condemnation following their resurrection. As always, judgment is on the basis of works.
Another view is that only unbelievers are in view in both descriptions. [Note: Barrett, p. 263.] However believers and unbelievers have both been prominent throughout the foregoing discussion. [Note: See also Zane C. Hodges, "Those Who Have Done Good-John 5:28-29," Bibliotheca Sacra 136:542 (April-June 1979):158-66.]
Jesus spoke of three different resurrections in this passage: the dead in sin who rise to new life spiritually (Joh 5:24-25), the physical resurrection of believers (Joh 5:25; Joh 5:28-29), and the physical resurrection of unbelievers (Joh 5:28-29).