Joh 5:22-23 | KingComments | STEP | There is something that not the Father, but the Son does. He does it alone, not together with the Father. That concerns the execution of judgment. He does not do this independently of the Father, because the Father has given it to Him. We can say that in this the Son acts for or on behalf of the Father. The Son gives life together with the Father and He judges alone. The Son is the Creator and He has the right to judge what He has created and what has rebelled against Him. The judgment given by the Father to the Son is done with an explicit purpose. The Father wants His Son to be honored by all people. For this the Son has authority to give life as well as to judge. Honoring the Father is impossible without honoring the Son. Many people talk about God the Father, but they do not intend to bow down before the Son. The Father takes no honor from such people. To come to a true honoring of the Son and thereby of the Father, the condition is to hear the word of the Lord Jesus, the Son, and to believe that the Father has sent Him. Hearing and accepting the word of the Son and believing in the Father as the One Who sent Him are inextricably linked. We believe in the Father through the word of the Son (cf. ). There is a triple result connected to this for the believer: 1. He is given eternal life and thus complete peace for his conscience. 2. This means that he is completely freed from judgment. Not only does it bypass him, but he does not enter it at all. 3. He has passed from death into the realm of life filled with the light of the knowledge of the Father. As a result, he has not only received new inner life, but he has also entered an area characterized by life, where everything speaks of life as opposed to the world in which he used to live and where everything speaks of death. This triple result is the part of all the dead who have heard the voice of the Son of God and therefore received life. By these dead the Lord means the spiritually dead ( ). Every human being is dead, until the moment he is born of God. This new birth, this partaking of the life the Son gives, takes place by listening to the voice of the Son of God. The ‘hour’ of speaking of the Lord Jesus whereby someone who listens to Him is given new life began when He was on earth and this hour still continues. Over the centuries, the Son’s voice has sounded in the hearts of countless people, bringing life because they have heard that voice and listened to it. He who hears will live. This is still true today. The Son as Man has been given by the Father as the source of eternal life for man. As the eternal Son, He gives life to whom He wills, and as Man in humiliation, the Father has given Him to have life in Himself. What He possesses as Divine Person, He has received as Man from the Father. Life is from eternity in Him ( ) and related to His eternal existence as God. If He had not come as Man, we would never have been able to receive that life. Now we hear the Son say that the Father gave life to the Son as Man. Therefore He can give this life to people. Again, this is proof that the Lord Jesus did not cease to be God when He came into the flesh. He became Man in order to be able to share with people what He possessed as God, while He remained God. All those who believe, possess the life that comes from Him and He can pass it on to others, because also as Man He possesses the life according to His Being. Then the Lord Jesus again returns to the authority He was given to execute judgment. In we see that He has the right to judge because He is the Creator. But here, in , we read that He also has the authority to execute judgment because He is Man. He is the perfect Man Who glorified God in everything and therefore obtained the authority to execute judgment. It is not the Father Who became Man and was rejected, but the Son became Man and was rejected as the Son of Man. Therefore He is given the authority to judge as the Son of Man. He will execute this authority by first removing all evil and next in governing the world in right and righteousness.

‏ John 5:22-23

Judgment and Life Given to the Son

There is something that not the Father, but the Son does. He does it alone, not together with the Father. That concerns the execution of judgment. He does not do this independently of the Father, because the Father has given it to Him. We can say that in this the Son acts for or on behalf of the Father. The Son gives life together with the Father and He judges alone. The Son is the Creator and He has the right to judge what He has created and what has rebelled against Him.

The judgment given by the Father to the Son is done with an explicit purpose. The Father wants His Son to be honored by all people. For this the Son has authority to give life as well as to judge. Honoring the Father is impossible without honoring the Son. Many people talk about God the Father, but they do not intend to bow down before the Son. The Father takes no honor from such people.

To come to a true honoring of the Son and thereby of the Father, the condition is to hear the word of the Lord Jesus, the Son, and to believe that the Father has sent Him. Hearing and accepting the word of the Son and believing in the Father as the One Who sent Him are inextricably linked. We believe in the Father through the word of the Son (cf. 1Pet 1:21).

There is a triple result connected to this for the believer:

1. He is given eternal life and thus complete peace for his conscience.

2. This means that he is completely freed from judgment. Not only does it bypass him, but he does not enter it at all.

3. He has passed from death into the realm of life filled with the light of the knowledge of the Father. As a result, he has not only received new inner life, but he has also entered an area characterized by life, where everything speaks of life as opposed to the world in which he used to live and where everything speaks of death.

This triple result is the part of all the dead who have heard the voice of the Son of God and therefore received life. By these dead the Lord means the spiritually dead (Eph 2:1). Every human being is dead, until the moment he is born of God. This new birth, this partaking of the life the Son gives, takes place by listening to the voice of the Son of God.

The ‘hour’ of speaking of the Lord Jesus whereby someone who listens to Him is given new life began when He was on earth and this hour still continues. Over the centuries, the Son’s voice has sounded in the hearts of countless people, bringing life because they have heard that voice and listened to it. He who hears will live. This is still true today.

The Son as Man has been given by the Father as the source of eternal life for man. As the eternal Son, He gives life to whom He wills, and as Man in humiliation, the Father has given Him to have life in Himself. What He possesses as Divine Person, He has received as Man from the Father.

Life is from eternity in Him (Jn 1:4) and related to His eternal existence as God. If He had not come as Man, we would never have been able to receive that life. Now we hear the Son say that the Father gave life to the Son as Man. Therefore He can give this life to people. Again, this is proof that the Lord Jesus did not cease to be God when He came into the flesh. He became Man in order to be able to share with people what He possessed as God, while He remained God. All those who believe, possess the life that comes from Him and He can pass it on to others, because also as Man He possesses the life according to His Being.

Then the Lord Jesus again returns to the authority He was given to execute judgment. In Jn 5:22 we see that He has the right to judge because He is the Creator. But here, in Jn 5:27, we read that He also has the authority to execute judgment because He is Man. He is the perfect Man Who glorified God in everything and therefore obtained the authority to execute judgment. It is not the Father Who became Man and was rejected, but the Son became Man and was rejected as the Son of Man. Therefore He is given the authority to judge as the Son of Man. He will execute this authority by first removing all evil and next in governing the world in right and righteousness.