Passage: John 5:24-30
The Big Idea
Jesus describes two resurrections. Right now, the spiritually dead hear His voice and live, passing from death to life and never coming into judgment. And one day, everyone in the graves will hear the same voice and rise. Jesus didn’t come just to answer our questions about resurrection. He came to be the resurrection. The voice that will one day call your body out of the grave is calling your heart out of death right now.
Lighthearted Resurrection Questions
Will I finally have abs in my resurrection body? Paul says we’ll be raised in glory (1 Corinthians 15:43), so at minimum you can stop doing crunches.
Will my bad knees still crack when I stand up? Every creak and groan now is part of creation groaning for its redemption (Romans 8:22-23), and it’s temporary.
Will there be coffee in heaven? Scripture doesn’t say. But Jesus turned water into wine at a party, so the beverage outlook is promising.
Will my in-laws be there? If they’re in Christ, yes. And the good news is you’ll love them perfectly by then.
If I’m next to my spouse, will they still steal the blankets? There’s no night there (Revelation 22:5), so the blanket war is officially over.
Will we be able to fly? The resurrected Jesus ascended into the clouds and appeared in locked rooms (John 20:19; Acts 1:9), so let’s just say your resurrection body comes with some upgrades.
Real Resurrection Questions
When I die, do I go straight to heaven, or wait for the resurrection? Both are true. To be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23). And at Christ’s return, the dead in Christ will be raised with glorified bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
If my loved one is already with Jesus, why do they need a resurrection? Because heaven is wonderful, but it isn’t the final chapter. God isn’t finished with them yet. He will make all things new, including our bodies (Revelation 21:5).
Will I get my same body back? Yes and no. Paul compares it to a seed planted in the ground: what comes up is connected to what was sown, but far more glorious (1 Corinthians 15:35-44).
What about people who were cremated or lost at sea? The God who formed Adam from dust has never needed the original parts (Genesis 2:7; Revelation 20:13).
How old will we be? Scripture never gives an age. But it does promise a body that will never age, decay or die again (1 Corinthians 15:42, 53).
Will we recognize each other? The disciples ate breakfast with the resurrected Jesus, and they knew exactly who He was (John 21:12).
Will Jesus still have His scars? Will we keep ours? Jesus kept His wounds and showed them to Thomas (John 20:27). His scars are now a badge of His love, and that may change how you see your own.
Will marriage continue in the resurrection? Jesus said that in the resurrection people don’t marry (Matthew 22:30). That’s better news than it sounds: every earthly marriage was always a picture of the ultimate marriage between Christ and His church, and that’s the one we’ll enjoy forever (Ephesians 5:31-32; Revelation 19:7).
Do unbelievers get resurrected too? Everyone will be raised, but not everyone will be raised to the same thing (John 5:29).
What do I have to do to be part of the resurrection of life? The answer isn’t found in your performance, but in an empty tomb outside Jerusalem. Believe in the One who rose (John 5:24; Romans 10:9).
Two Aspects of Resurrection
- Now: Jesus gives spiritual life to people who hear and believe. They pass from death to life (John 5:24-25).
- Future: everyone in the tombs will hear Jesus’ voice and rise. Jesus describes two outcomes: life and judgment (John 5:28-29).
Passed from Death to Life (John 5:24)
Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life. He will not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
- Jesus describes eternal life as a present possession. The believer has it and has passed from death to life.
- He doesn’t say believers might come into judgment later. He says they won’t.
- Through Jesus’ finished work, believers are forgiven, secure and alive in Him, not waiting for a future verdict about their sins.
In John 3:16, believing in Jesus (trusting in, relying on, clinging to Him) was the path to eternal life. Here, Jesus says hearing His word and believing the Father who sent Him is the path. Because the Father and Son are so united in their work, both are true. Real belief in the Father is belief in the Son, and real belief in the Son is belief in the Father.
Spurgeon noted that this text doesn’t say eternal life comes through drops of water or any ceremony. The command is simply: hear, and your soul shall live.
No judgment, but death to life
What judges us? The Law. The Ten Commandments.
And that isn’t good news. When the Law judges a person, it always finds them guilty, never innocent. No one has ever lived up to God’s perfect standard (Romans 3:20, 23). The verdict is right, but it isn’t good news.
So God must judge everyone, and the penalty for sin is always death. Judgment and death go together. We have to die. Unless we have Someone who can die for us and exchange our death for His life.
Jesus was judged on the cross for your sin. And He freely offers to give you His perfect, holy life in exchange for yours. The glorious exchange. Resurrection life.
We pass from death to life. From a life of trying to measure up to God’s standard, to His perfect life as our only claim. His life, freely given and freely received, to live our lives for us, through us and as us. That’s the life of Jesus. Life in His Spirit.
It’s not a “get out of jail free” card. It’s a “get out of jail free and let Jesus live His life through you, to His glory” card.
That’s the offer. Not freedom to sin as much as we want, but a life of meaning, purpose and love with our heavenly Father. We’re free from having to impress or measure up, and yet we freely give more than the Law ever demanded, out of pure love.
Two questions to sit with:
- If the verdict on your life has already been read, and it says not guilty, alive in Christ, what are you still trying to prove?
- Have you only received Jesus’ pardon, or have you also received His life? And are you letting Him live it through you?
The Dead Will Hear (John 5:25)
“Truly, truly, I tell you, a time is coming, and is already here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
- Jesus is describing the life He gives to people who are spiritually dead.
- “Is coming and is already here” points to something already happening through His ministry, while also looking ahead to the bodily resurrection in verses 28-29.
- When people hear and believe the Son, they receive life, not as a reward for meeting religious requirements, but as a gift.
We’ve all heard that voice: “Stop trying to measure up. Trust My grace. Trust My sacrifice.”
The Source of Life (John 5:26-27)
“Just as the Father has life in Himself, He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge, because He is the Son of Man.”
- Jesus is the source. No more searching for life, meaning and purpose. It’s all in Him.
- Because Jesus is both God and man, He has the right to forgive everyone who believes in Him. Only He can do it. He alone is the Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).
All in the Graves (John 5:28-29)
“Don’t be amazed at this. A time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come out. Those who have done good will rise to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil will rise to the resurrection of judgment.”
Jesus told the astonished religious leaders this to explain who He is, the nature of His authority and His deity. It also tells us something remarkable about every human being: everyone, both those who have done good and those who have done evil, will live forever, far beyond this physical life. Jesus will command them to rise on that day, in bodies suited for eternity.
What about “those who have done good”?
Some people read verse 29 and think, “There it is. It comes down to my performance after all.”
But in the very next chapter, people asked Jesus exactly that: “What must we do to do the works God requires?” And Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the One He has sent” (John 6:28-29).
The “good” that leads to the resurrection of life isn’t a pile of good deeds. It’s trusting the One who was good for you. Every good thing that follows grows out of His life in you, not out of your effort to earn it.
A Righteous Judge (John 5:30)
“I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is just, because I don’t seek My own will, but the will of the One who sent Me.”
- Jesus is perfectly qualified to be a righteous Judge, because His power is always in submission to the Father.
- His claim to be the Son of God was outrageous to the religious people of His day. But the proof was in the way He did everything. He never did His own will, only His Father’s.
- And that’s the life and identity you carry today: His Spirit, concerned only with God’s will.
The Voice
We started with a lot of questions. How old will we be? Will we recognize each other? What about our bodies?
Those are good questions, and one day every one of them will be answered. But Jesus didn’t come to satisfy every curiosity about the resurrection. He came to be the resurrection (John 11:25).
Twice in this passage, Jesus says the dead will hear His voice.
- Verse 25: the spiritually dead hear Him now, and they live.
- Verse 28: the physically dead will hear Him later, and they’ll rise.
Same voice. Same Jesus. Same power.
The voice that will one day call your body out of the grave is calling your heart out of death right now.
The real question isn’t whether you’ll hear His voice. Everyone will. Verse 28 says all who are in the graves will hear it. The question is what that voice will mean to you when you hear it.
Grace Takeaway
In Christ, the verdict is already in: not guilty, alive forever. You’ve passed from death to life, and you’ll never come into judgment. Listen to His voice today, and the day He calls the dead from their graves will be the happiest day you’ve ever known.
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