The Hour is Coming

John 5:19-29

Then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but whatever He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come I to judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, 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 to have life in Himself, and He has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.


Jesus speaks about His Father. He speaks about truth. He speaks about giving life to those who are dead. Who are the dead? Those who live their lives without the relationship with Christ that Christ has with His Father. Those who live without acknowledgment in their hearts that Christ lived, died and is risen again.

Just like Jesus could do nothing apart from His Father, neither can we do anything without our Father. And Jesus said we can only come to that same Father through Jesus Christ Himself, the only way, truth and life, that sincere acknowledgment of knowing Christ as our Lord and Savior and believing in Him. God the Father showed a greater work when He brought Jesus back to life.

Now Jesus wants to do the same for us. And His ultimate desire is that no one should perish, that He might cause others to be resurrected from their dead spiritual lives. We seem to think that we can do this without Him. If Jesus claims He can do nothing without His Father we should be worried if we think we can. Why would God have sent His Son if we could work our way to heaven on our own?

Jesus proclaimed who He was, what He offered, gave life to those who heard His words and believed. He spoke of removing judgment from those people. There will come a day of judgment. That's the hour that is coming. If we do not listen to the words of Jesus or trust in Him, judgment will be upon us. He has offered many opportunities. He has opened many eyes and yet some struggle with taking that sure step toward life. The road to destruction is wide. The road to life is narrow. Tough decision. Want the easy way or the hard way? Want acceptance in the world or acceptance from God?

Jesus says: Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life...  Do not marvel! He has told us what we are to do. He has told us right here that one day those who have done good, who have received Christ as outlined by He Himself, who may have physically died, will come forth out of the grave and will live with Him forever. Those who have not done as He requires will not rise to eternal life but will be condemned for eternity. This speaks of heaven and hell.

His voice resounds throughout the Old and New Testaments. Do what the Bible says, hear the words of God, believe, take them to heart, live them, share them. Then you have done what is good in His eyes. It's all about Him. It has nothing to do with us. We don't need to be wise in our own eyes. We need to be wise in His. That is what brings life.

He has told us again today what we must do: hear the words and take them to heart. The hour is coming. We need to be prepared before that hour arrives. The time is now.

Luke 9:24-26 - For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.