John 5:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

NIV: Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice

NASB: Do not be amazed at this; for a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,

CSB: Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice

NLT: Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son,

KJV: Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

NKJV: Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice

Jesus has already referred to His power over life and death (John 5:21). Part of this power includes the ability to overcome spiritual death (John 5:24), as well as physical death (John 5:25). It also means that Jesus has the right, as God, to judge all mankind at the eventual end-times resurrection.

One reason Jesus reminds His listeners not to "marvel" at His claim is that this end-times resurrection was a common part of existing Jewish thought. Some groups denied this, such as Sadducees (Acts 23:8). Most Jewish people, though, already understood that there would be a resurrection leading to judgment at some point in the future.

Jesus' purpose in verses 28 and 29 is to link this commonly-accepted belief to His own ministry. The one given power and authority, both for resurrection and judgment, is Jesus Christ. This is the role of the prophetic Son of Man (Daniel 7:13–14), a title Jesus often claims for Himself.

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—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 more or less avoiding 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 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 gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 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”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.

Accessed 5/4/2024 4:07:48 AM