21 For as the Father raiseth up | man, but hath committed all the dead, and quickeneth them; judgment unto the Son: even 1 so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not 2 Matt. xi. 27. Acts xvii. 31. 2 Cor. v. 10. Jesus is in these 22. Judgeth no man. verses showing his equality with God. He affirmed, ver. 17, that he had the same power over the sabbath that his Father had; in ver. 19, that he did the same things as the Father; in ver. 21, particularly that he had the same power to raise the dead. He now adds that God has given him the authority to judge men. The Father pronounces judgment on no one. This office he has committed to the Son. The power of judging the world implies ability to search the heart, and omniscience to understand the motives of all actions. This is a work which none but a divine being can do, and it shows, therefore, that the Son is equal to the Father. Hath committed, &c. Hath appointed him to be the judge of the world. In the previous verse he had said that he had power to raise the dead; he here adds that it will be his also to judge them when they are raised. See Matt. 21. As the Father raiseth up the dead. God has power to raise the dead. By his power this had been done in at least two instances, by the prophet Elijah, in the case of the son of the widow of Sarepta, 1 Kin. xvii. 22; and by the prophet Elisha, in the case of the Shunamite's son. 2 Kin. iv. 32-35. The Jews did not doubt that God had power to raise the dead. Jesus here expressly affirms it, and says that he has the same power. Quickeneth them. Gives them life. This is the sense of the word quickeneth throughout the Bible. Even so. In xxv. Acts xvii. 31. the same manner. By the same authority and power. The power of raising the dead must be one of the highest attributes of the divinity. As Jesus affirms that he has the power in the same manner as the Father, so it follows that he must be equal with God. The Son quickeneth. Gives life to. This may either refer to his raising the dead from their graves, or giving spiritual life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. The former he did in the case of Lazarus, and the widow's son at Nain. Ch. xi. 43, 44. Luke vii. 14, 15. The latter he did in the case of all those who were converted by his power, and still does it in any case of conversion. Whom he will. It was in the power of Jesus to raise up any of the dead as well as Lazarus. It depended on his will whether Lazarus and the widow's son should come to life. So it depends on his will whether sinners shall live. He has power to renew them, and the renewing of the heart is as much the result of his will as the raising of the dead. 23. That all men should honour, &c. To honour is to esteem, reverence, praise, do homage to. We honour one when we ascribe to him in our hearts, and words, and actions, the praise and obedience which are due to him. We honour God when we obey him and worship him aright. We honour the Son when we esteem him to be as he is; when we have right views and feelings towards him. As he is declared to be God, ch. i. 1, as he here says that he has power and authority equal with God, so we honour him when we regard him as such. The primitive Christians are described by Pliny, in a letter to the emperor Trajan, as meeting together to sing hymns to Christ as God. So we honour him aright when we regard him as possessed of wisdom, goodness, power, eternity, omniscience, equal with God. Even as. To the same extent; in the same manner. Since the Son is to be honoured even as the Father, it follows that he must be equal with the Father. To honour the Father must denote reli the Son, honoureth not the Father and believeth on him that sent which hath sent him. gious homage, or the rendering of that honour which is due to God; so to honour the Son must also denote religious homage. If our Saviour here did not intend to teach that he ought to be worshipped, and to be esteemed as equal with God, it would be difficult to teach it by any language which could have been used. He that honoureth not the Son. He that does not believe on him, and render to him the homage which is his due as the equal of God. Honoureth not the Father. Does not worship and obey the Father, the first person of the Trinity, that is, does not worship God. He may imagine he worships God, but there is no God but the God subsisting as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He that withholds proper homage from one, withholds it from all. He that should refuse to honour the Father, could not be said to honour God; and in the like manner, he that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father. This appears further from the following considerations: 1. The Father wills that the Son should be honoured. He that refuses to do it disobeys the Father. 2. They are equal. He that denies the one, denies also the other. 3. The same feeling that leads us to honour the Father, will also lead us to honour the Son, for he is "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person." Heb. i. 3. 4. The evidence of the existence of the Son is the same as that of the Father. He has the same wisdom, goodness, omnipresence, truth. And from these verses we may learn: 1. That those who do not render proper homage to Jesus Christ, do not worship the true God. 2. There is no such God as the infidel professes to believe in. There can be but one God, and if the God of the Bible be the true God, then all other gods are false gods, and cannot 3. Those who withhold proper homage from Jesus Christ, who do not honour him even as they honour the Father, cannot be Christians. 4. One save. me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 2 Ch. x. 27-30. Rom. viii. 1, 16, 17, 28-30, 33, 34. 1 Thess. v. 9. 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. 1 John iii. 14. evidence of piety is when we are willing to render proper praise and homage to Jesus Christ, to love him, and serve, and obey him, with all our hearts. 5. As a matter of fact, it may be added, that they who do not honour the Son, do not worship God at all. The infidel has no form of worship. He has no place of secret prayer, no temple of worship, no family altar. Who ever yet heard of an infidel that prayed? Where do such men bund houses of worship? Where do they meet to praise God? Nowhere. As certainly as we hear the name infidel, we are certam at once that we hear the name of a man who has no form of religion in his family; who never prays in secret, and who wil do nothing to maintain the public worship of God. Account for it as men may, it is a fact that no one can dispute, that it is only they who do honour to the Lord Jesus that have any form of the worship of God, er that honour him; and their veneration for God is just in proportion to their love for the Redeemer, just as they honour him. 24. He that heareth my word. To hear, in this place, evidently denotes not the outward act of hearing, but to receive in a proper manner; to suffer it to make its proper impression on the mind; to obey. The word hear is often used in this sense. Ch. viii. 47. Matt. xi. 15. Acts iii. 23. Many persons outwardly hear the gospel, who neither understand nor obey it. My word. My doctrine, my teaching. All that Jesus taught about himself, as well as about the Father. On him that sent me. On the Father, who, in the plan of redemption, is represented as sending his Son to save men. See ch. iii. 17. Faith in God who sent his Son, is here represented as being connected with everlasting life. But there can be no faith in him who sent his Son, without faith also in him who is sent. The belief of one of the true doctrines of religion is connected with, and will lead to, the belief of all. Hath everlasting life. The state of man by nature is represent 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead 1 shall hear the 1 Ver. 28. Luke ix. 60; xv. 24, 32. Rom. vi. 4. Eph. ii. 1. ed as death in sin. Eph. ii. 1. Religion is the opposite of this, or is life. The dead regard not any thing. They are unaffected by the cares, pleasures, amusements, of the world. They hear neither the voice of merriment, nor the tread of the living over their graves. So with sinners; they are unmoved with the things of religion. They hear not the voice of God, they see not his loveliness, they care not for his threatenings. But religion is life. The Christian lives with God, and feels and acts as if there was a God. Religion and its blessings, here and hereafter, are one and the same. The happiness of heaven is living unto God; being sensible of his presence, and glory, and power, and rejoicing in that. "There shall be no more death." Rev. xxi. 4. This life, or this religion, whether on earth or in heaven, is the same; the same joys extended and expanded for ever. Hence, when a man is converted, it is said that he has everlasting life; not merely shall have, but is already in possession of, that life or happiness which shall be everlasting. It is life begun, expanding, ripening for the skies. He has already entered on the inheritance; that inheritance which is everlasting. ¶ Shall not come into condemnation. He was by nature under condemnation. See ch. iii. 18. Here it is declared that he shall not return to that state, or he will not be again condemned. This promise is sure, it is made by the Son of God, and there is no one that can pluck them out of his hand. Ch. x. 28. But is passed from death unto life. Has passed over from a state of spiritual death to the life of the Christian. The word translated is passed, would be better expressed by has passed. It implies that he has done it voluntarily; that none compelled him; and that the passage is made unto everlasting life. Because Christ is the author of this life in the soul, he is called the life, ch. i. 4; and as he has always existed, and is the source of all life, he is called the eternal life. 1 John v. 20. 25. The hour. The time. Is com ing. Under the preaching of the gospel, as well as in the resurrection of the dead. Now is. It is now taking place. Sinners were converted under his ministry, and brought to spiritual life. ¶ The dead. Either the dead in sins, or those that are in their graves. The words of the Saviour will apply to either. Language, in the scriptures, is often so used to describe two similar events. Thus the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world are described by Jesus in the same language, Matt. xxiv., xxv. The return of the Jews from Babylon, and the coming of the Messiah, and the spread of his gospel, are described in the same language by Isaiah. Isa.xl.-lxi. Compare Notes on Isa. vii. 14. The renewal of the heart, and the raising of the dead at the judgment, are here also described in similar language, because they so far resemble each other, that the same language will apply to both. The voice of the Son of God. The voice is that by which we give command. Jesus raised up the dead by his command, or by his authority. When he did it he spoke, or Mark v. 41: commanded it to be done. "He took the damsel by the hand, and said, Talitha-cumi." Luke vii. 14: "And he came and touched the bier, and said, Ch. Young man, I say unto the, arise." xi. 43: He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth." So it is by his command that those who are dead in sins are quickened, or made alive. Ver. 21. And so at the day of judgment the dead will be raised by his command or voice, though there is no reason to think that his voice will be audibly heard. Ver. 28. Shall live. Shall be restored to life. 26. As the Father hath life. God is the source of all life. He is thence called the living God, in opposition to idols, which have no life. Acts xiv. 15. "We preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities (idols) unto the living God." Josh. iii. 10. 1 Sam. xvii. 26. Jer. x. 10. See also Isa. xl. 18-31. ¶ In himself. This means, that life in God, or existence, is not derived from any other being. Our life is derived from God. in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 1 27 And hath given him authority 2 to execute judgment also, because 1 Ch. i. 4; iv. 10; vii. 37, 48; xi. 26. 1 Cor. he is the Son of man. xv. 45. Col. iii. 3, 4. 1 John i. 1-3. vii. 17; xxi. 6; xxii. 1, 17. Rev. Gen. ii. 7: God" breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul," i. e. a living being. All other creatures derive their life from him. Psa. civ. 20, 29, 30: "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust." But God is underived. He always existed as he is. Pea. xc. 2: "From everlasting to everlasting thou art God." He is unchangeably the same. Jas. i. 17. It cannot be said that he was self-existent, because that is an absurdity. No being can originate or create himself. But he is not dependent on any other for life. Of course, no being can take away his existence; and of course, also, no being can take away his happiness. He has in himself infinite sources of happiness; and no other being, no change in his universe, can destroy that happiness. So. In a manner like his. It corresponds to the first as, implying that one is the same as the other; life in the one is the same, and possessed in the same manner, as in the other. Hath he given. This shows that the power or authority here spoken of was given, or committed to the Lord Jesus. This evidently does not refer to the manner in which the second person in the Trinity exists; for the power and authority of which Christ here speaks is that which he exercises as Mediator. It is the power of raising the dead and judging the world. In regard to his divine nature, it is not affirmed here that it is in any manner derived. Nor does the fact that God is said to have given him this power prove that he was inferior in his nature, or that his existence was derived. For, 1. It has reference merely to office. As Mediator, he may be said to have been appointed by the Father. 2. Appointment to office does not prove that the one who is appointed is inferior in nature to him who appoints him. A son may be appointed to a particular work by a parent, and yet, in regard to talents and every other qualification, may be equal or superior to the father. He sustains the relation of a son, 2 Ver. 22. Psa. ii. 6-9; cx. 1, 2, 6. Acts 1. 42. Eph. i. 20-23. and in this relation there is an official inferiority. General Washington was not inferior in nature and talents to the men who commissioned him. He simply derived authority from them to do what he was otherwise fully able to do. So the Son, as Mediator, is subject to the Father; yet this proves nothing about his nature. To have life. That is, the right or authority of imparting life to others, whether dead in their graves or in their sins. ¶ In himself. There is much that is remarkable in this expression. It is in him as it is in God. He has the control of it, and can exercise it as he will. The prophets and apostles are never represented as having such power in themselves. They were dependent; they performed miracles in the name of God, and of Jesus Christ. Acts iii. 6; iv. 30; xvi. 18. But Jesus did it by his own name, authority, and power. He had but to speak and it was done. Ch. xi. 43. Mark v. 41. Luke vii. 14. This wonderful commis sion he bore from God to raise up the dead as he pleased, to convert sinners when and where he pleased, and finally to raise up all the dead, and pronounce on them an eternal doom according to the deeds done in the body. None could do this but he who had the power of creation, who was equal in power to tas Father; and who had the power of searching all hearts, being equal in a niscience to God. 27. Hath given him authority. Hath appointed him to do this. Has made him to be judge of all. This is repre sented as being the appointment of Father. Acts xvii. 31. The word thority, here (commonly rendered power), implies all that is necessary to execu judgment; all the physical power to rust the dead, and to investigate the act.sta and thoughts of the life; and all the moral right or authority to sit in ment on the creatures of God, and pr nounce their doom. ¶ To execute, ment. To do judgment; that a 14 judge. He has appointment to do s tice, and to see that the universe s 28 Marvel not at this: 1 for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 1 Ch. vi. 39, 40; xi. 25. Hos, xiii. 14. 1 Cor. xv. 22, 42-54. 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that Dan. xii. 2. Matt. xxv. 31-46. Acte xxiv. 15. 2 Cor. v. 10. dead, of every age and nation. They are described as in the graves, though many have turned to their native dust, and perished from human view, yet God sees them, and can regather their remains and raise them up to life. The phrase, all that are in the graves, does not prove that the same particles of matter shall be raised up, but it is equivalent to saying, all the dead. See Notes on 1 Cor. xv. 35-38. Shall hear his voice. He will restore them to life, and command them to appear before him. This is a most sublime description, and this will be a wonderful display of almighty power. None but God can see all the dead, none but he could remould their frames, and none else could command them to return to life. no wrong, either by the escape of the The time is approaching, or will be. guilty, or by the punishment of the inno-All that are in the graves. All the cent. Because he is the Son of man. The phrase Son of man here, seems to be used in the sense of "because he is a man," or because he has human nature. Jesus often uses the phrase in relation to himself, to show his union to man, and his interest in man. See Note, Matt. viii. 19, 20. It is remarked here that the word son has not the article before it in the original. Because he is a son of man; i. e., because he is a man. It would seem, from this, that there is a propriety that one in our nature should judge us. What this propriety is, we do not certainly know. It may be, 1. Because it is proper that one who has experienced our infirmities, and who possesses our nature, may be supposed by those who are judged to be better qualified than one in a different nature. 2. Because it is to decide between man and God, and it is proper that our feelings and nature, and views, should be represented in the judge, as well as those of God. 3. Because Jesus has all the feelings of compassion we could ask, all the love we could desire in a judge; because he has shown his disposition to defend us by giving his life, and it can never be alleged by those who are condemned that their judge was a distant, cold, and unfriendly being. Some have supposed that the expression, Son of man, here, means the same as Messiah, see Dan. vii. 13, 14; and that the meaning is, that God hath made him judge because he was the Messiah. Some of the ancient versions and fathers connected this with the following verse, thus: "Marvel not because I am a man, or because this great work is committed to a man apparently in humble life. You shall see greater than these." things Thus the Syriac version reads it; and Chrysostom, Theophylact, and some others among the fathers. 28. Marvel not. Do not wonder, or be astonished at this. ¶The hour is coming. 29. Shall come forth. Shall come out of their graves. This was the language which he used when he raised up Lazarus. Ch. xi. 43, 44. They that have done good. That is, they who are righteous, or they who have, by their good works, shown that they were the friends of Christ. See Matt. xxv. 34-36. ¶ Resurrection of life. Religion is often called life, and everlasting life. See Note, ver. 24. In the resurrection, the righteous shall be raised up to the full enjoyment and perpetual security of that life. It is also called the resurrection of life, because there shall be no more death. Rev. xxi. 4. The enjoyment of God himself and of his works, of the society of angels and of the redeemed, and a freedom from sickness, and sin, and dying, shall constitute the life of the just in the resurrection. The resurrection is also called the resurrection of the just, Luke xiv. 14; and the first resurrection. Rev. xx. 5, 6. ¶ The resurrection of damnation. The word damnation means the sentence passed on one by a judge, judgment, or condemnation. The word, as we use it, applies only to the judgment pronounced by God on the wicked. But this is not its meaning always in the bible. Here it has, how |
