John 5:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

NIV: Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

NASB: 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.

CSB: "Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

NLT: And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice — the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.

KJV: Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

NKJV: 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 the third time in this short passage, Jesus uses the phrase "Amēn, amēn, legō hymin…"—"truly, truly I say to you"—which implies absolute, first-hand knowledge. In prior verses, Jesus has claimed to possess the works (John 5:19), love (John 5:20), life-and-death power (John 5:21), judgment (John 5:22), and honor (John 5:23) of God. It makes sense, then, for Jesus to point out that those who do not accept Him do not accept God (John 5:24).

Since Jesus has the power over life and death, and the power of God's judgment, only those who believe in Him will see eternal life. In practical terms, this verse is a reference to salvation. The first aspect of our salvation is spiritual: we need to be rescued from spiritual death, which is separation from God.

In this verse, Jesus foreshadows several aspects of His power over life and death. The healing of a man crippled for thirty-eight years (John 5:1–15) symbolized His power over life and the physical body. Later in this Gospel, He will prove His power over death by raising Lazarus (John 11). He will show how complete this power is by rising from the grave Himself (Matthew 28:5–6). And, at some point in the future, Jesus Christ will call all the dead out of their graves for eternal judgment (John 5:28–29; Revelation 20:12).

John 5:16–29 begins Jesus' response to local religious leaders. After healing a man on the Sabbath, Jesus is attacked for violating traditions related to the Mosaic law and for claiming to be equal to God. In this passage, Jesus claims many of the attributes of God the Father. Among these are the power, judgment, love, and honor of God. Jesus also states that those who reject His message dishonor God and only those who believe Him will have eternal life. In the next passage, Jesus will support these claims by referring to various forms of evidence, all of which prove His ministry to be true.

Jesus again returns to Jerusalem, as required for the various feast days. While there, He heals a man who had been crippled for nearly forty years. Since this occurred on the Sabbath, local religious leaders are angry. In fact, they are more upset with Jesus for working on the Sabbath than amazed at His miracle. In response, Jesus offers an important perspective on evidence. Jesus refers to human testimony, scriptural testimony, and miracles as reasons to believe His declarations. Christ also lays claim to many of the attributes of God, making a clear claim to divinity.

Chapters 1 through 4 showed Jesus avoiding major publicity. Here, in chapter 5, He will begin to openly challenge the local religious leaders. This chapter is Jesus' first major answer to His critics in this gospel. The fact that Jesus is willing to heal on the Sabbath sets up a theme of His upcoming disagreements with the Pharisees. Jesus also provides an important perspective on the relationship between evidence and faith, which He will expand on in later chapters. This chapter also establishes a key point made by Jesus' critics: His claims to be God.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.