John 5:17ff: IX

Continuing with the third of Jesus’ Truly, truly (Amen, amen) sayings of John Chapter 5:

Truly, truly, I say to you,

an 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 just as the Father has life in Himself, even 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.

    Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which

                 all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,

                                                       and will come forth;

             those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life,

             those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Jesus is not teaching that the resurrection of life is obtained by the things we do; the context of the Gospel makes this clear, for it is whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life, and This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. Calvin writes, “He marks out believers by their good works, just as elsewhere He says that a tree is known by its fruit…For Christ is not here treating of the cause of salvation, but only distinguishing the elect from the reprobate by their own work”.

Jesus’ reference to Himself as “the Son of Man” and “Son of Man” communicates, I think, a redemptive panorama. It is often viewed as an eschatological reference to Daniel 7:13-14. In this passage Daniel sees “one like a Son of Man” being given an everlasting dominion, glory and a kingdom. However, while Daniel Chapter 7 is certainly encompassed in the self-designation Son of Man, so is Psalm 8; “What is man, that you remember him? Or the son of man that you are concerned about him? You have made him a little lower than the angles; you have crowned him with glory and honor…you have put all things under his feet.”

The writer of the NT book of Hebrews has this comment on Psalm 8:

But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angles, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone, Hebrews 2:8-9.

Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2 are the backdrop to Daniel 7. in much the same way that verses 3 – 4 are the backdrop to verses 25 – 28 in 1 Corinthians Chapter 15. The Incarnation and Crucifixion precede the Resurrection and receiving of an everlasting Kingdom.

To be sure, as we see in John Chapter 5, the Son of Man in His incarnation has instituted the eschaton/last days, for judgment is both present and future just as eternal life is present and future; so there is an already-not yet element to the ministry of the Son of Man. It is a panorama that stretches back to Genesis and reaches forward through Psalm 8, John 5, and into Revelation 21 and 22. And since this panorama encompasses humanity, the term Son of Man also speaks to us of Jesus Christ’s identification with humanity – God has become man, fully man while remaining fully God (see Hebrews Chapter 2 for more on His identification with us).

 

As Paul in 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 teaches us, Jesus Christ was the Last Adam and He is the Second Man; in Jesus Christ we have a new humanity, a new creation, and those who hear His word and believe in Him pass from Adam into Christ (see Romans 5). In the designation Son of Man, Jesus is not only identifying Himself with us; He is also assuring us of the certainty of our redemption; a redemption promised in Genesis 3:15, pondered in Psalm 8, revealed in Daniel 7, made certain on the Cross, and fully realized in Revelation 21 and 22.