Lesson for May 18, 2025
The Book of John
Lesson 15
Jesus Asserts His Deity – Part 2
Chapter 5:22-32
Verses 22-24
“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.’”
God the Father continues to judge people, nations, and institutions; therefore, Jesus was referring to the final judgments, which is confirmed in verses 24-29. Having just said to the Pharisees that He was able to raise the dead, making Himself equal with God, Jesus said that God the Father has given all judgment to Him. This statement also made Him equal with God. Jesus was still asserting His deity to judge as a member of the Trinity.
Because Jesus was judged for the sin of the entire human race, the entire human race will stand before Jesus to be judged. Those people who accept the payment that Christ made for them on the Cross, by a simple act of faith, will stand before Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ, in Heaven immediately after the Rapture. There they will be evaluated (judged) for how they lived their spiritual lives. Those people who reject the payment Christ made for them on the Cross will stand before Jesus at the Great White Throne Judgment, at the end of the Millennium. There they will be evaluated (judged) on the basis of their human works, which are not sufficient to get them to Heaven. No one, believer or unbeliever, will be judged for their sin, since Christ paid the penalty for all sin on the Cross.
He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The reason Jesus was given all judgment is stated here. God the Father honored Jesus by giving all judgment to Him. To honor the Son means to believe in Him for eternal life, which also honors the Father Who sent Him. Philippians 2:5-7, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, though He existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be held on to, but emptied Himself (of the use of His deity) by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of mankind.”
So far, we have resurrection in verse 21 and judgment in verse 22, to show total equality with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Jesus was once again asserting His deity by saying, “the one who believes Him Who sent me has eternal life.” So, what does it mean to believe Him Who sent Me? To believe the Father means to believe He sent His Son to pay the penalty for sin.
Jesus explained what occurs when a person believes in Him for salvation. Notice that Jesus never said believe and do anything else for salvation. Right here Jesus made it clear that the only requirement for salvation is faith in Him. This one verse, along with at least 150 others, makes it crystal clear that human works, of any kind, have nothing to do with salvation.
Truly, truly is the Greek idiom that means an absolute truth from God follows. Jesus stated three things that happen as a result of faith in Him. First, a person receives eternal life. Second, a person has avoided being eternally judged for Adam’s original sin. Third, a person passes from spiritual death to spiritual life. These and many other things are true of anyone who believes that Jesus paid the penalty for their sin.
Verses 25-27
“Truly, truly, I say to you, a time is coming and even now has arrived, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.”
Hearing the Gospel and believing in Jesus Christ results in being resurrected at the Rapture for Church Age believers. People who hear the Gospel are the spiritually dead, unbelievers. When a person believes in Christ, God makes them spiritually alive. (I John 5:11-12)
Eternal life is the life God gives to a person the moment they believe in Christ for salvation. Since it is God Who gives eternal life to believers, it is a matter of His grace. Therefore, eternal life is not deserved, nor can it be earned. Eternal means that believers are secure in Christ, forever. (John 10:28-29, 11:25-26; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6)
Because Jesus Christ was the One judged on the Cross, God the Father has given Him the privilege of judging. Judging by Jesus Christ takes place in eternity for believers and unbelievers. Once again, Jesus was asserting His authority as deity, since God is the judge of all mankind. (II Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:12-15)
Verses 28-29
“Do not be amazed at this; for a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come out: those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
Jesus was talking about the judgment to come after the resurrection of the dead, both believers and unbelievers, alike. A good deed is to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, resulting in eternal life. A bad deed is to reject Jesus Christ for salvation, resulting in eternal judgment in the Lake of Fire.
Believers will be judged (evaluated) on the basis of their divine production (good deeds), at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Greek word for good is “agathos,” meaning good of lasting value. This type of good can be done only by believers and only through the power and guidance of God the Holy Spirit. And a person receives God’s righteousness as a gift, when they believe in Christ for salvation, which qualifies them to enter Heaven.
Unbelievers will be judged on the basis of their human works (bad deeds) at the Great White Throne Judgment. The Greek word for bad is “phaulos,” meaning wicked. This type of bad can be done by anyone, since it comes from the sin nature that we all possess as human beings. And an unbeliever’s human works do not produce the righteousness of God necessary to enter Heaven.
Therefore, in this passage, we have two categories of people who will be judged by Jesus Christ in eternity. The first category is believers, designated as those who did good deeds (divine good works), since only believers can do them. The second category is unbelievers, designated as those who did bad deeds (human good works) for salvation, since unbelievers can do only human good works and not divine good works.
Verses 30-31
“I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.”
This means that Christ subordinated His deity to the will of the Father, and the only way He could do that was to not use His divine attributes independently of the plan of God the Father. (Doctrine of Kenosis) So, when Jesus performed miracles, He performed them from the power of the Holy Spirit. Whatever He did, He did in the power of the Spirit; He did not depend on His own divine attributes. He depended on the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit in His humanity. This was a major issue, as seen when Satan tried to get Him to operate independently of the Father’s plan in Matthew 4:3, “Command these stones to be made bread.” Jesus didn’t do it because He would have been acting independently of the Father’s plan.
Verse 32
“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.”
Jesus was speaking to a group of Pharisees, so Jesus gave them more than the required two witnesses under the Mosaic Law to corroborate the fact of His deity. Christ’s testimony alone did not meet the requirements of the Law. So, He gave them multiple witnesses to His deity. The first witness to the deity of Christ was God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s testimony is given to all human beings the moment they reach God-consciousness. The Pharisees were unbelievers because they had rejected the truth from the Holy Spirit at God-consciousness or Gospel-hearing. Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing (the opportunity for) salvation to all people.”
In John 5:33-47, Jesus gave these Pharisees additional witnesses to His deity, as we will see in the next lesson.