I guess I'm surprised that more people don't comment on John 17. In my book it is one of the more important chapters of the Bible. In it we find that knowing God is life eternal. And the entire chapter is dedicated to God's love for us and dwelling within us.

John 17: 1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Yes, chapter seventeen is an awesome chapter.
Showing Jesus as the link between fallen mankind and restoration to God. Jesus prayed," That they (that is us) all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."

It will be great to study it verse by verse when we reach chapter seventeen.
Right now we are still on chapter five, which I find is also an awesome chapter.
Taking time to look at each verse or pair of verses as we go through the book of John has been a great blessing for me.

John 5:24
5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
We can see in this verse thoughts building up to Christ's last prayer (found in chapter 17) The whole book points us to Jesus as the Divine link between God and mankind, the One come from the center of the Godhead to reveal God to us and bring us back from the realms of sin and death into the heavenly realms of life and glory.

Yet this verse has often been used for debate rather than to glean the truths. Yet when we look back at the passages John wrote previous we see the theme building up as well.

John 3:16 God so loved the world that He sent Jesus -- why? So we won't have to perish in the everlasting death, but have everlasting LIFE.

John 1:4 him is life; and the life is the light of mankind,
But the sad note in John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Chapter five began with a question : "Do you want to be made whole?"
And by Jesus, the paralytic was made whole, not just physically, but given spiritual life as well!

Do we want to be made "whole"? -- that's why Jesus came.
Sin has left mankind tattered, and full of sorrow and death. BUT
Jesus has opened the door and provided the ladder for us to escape this condemnation brought by sin and evil. When we DO come to the light and love the light of truth revealed in Christ and God, and walk in the light as He is the light, then we need not perish.
He came so that we need not perish, and when we believe (truly believe) yes, we pass from death unto life.

John 5:25
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.

Jesus is the reality of a resurrection that NOW IS, which is also the guarantee of the resurrection which is to come.
How do we understand this dual resurrections.
We need a resurrection NOW, we need to embrace eternal life NOW.
But -- it is still coming as well?


John 5:24 He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life
That verse speaks of NOW.

Then in verse 5:25 Christ speaks of raising people from the dead, This activity has been presented both in the present NOW IS and future IS COMING
.
Christ is now the Source of spiritual life and renewal. He alone can heal the morally impotent, dead in sin, humans and raise them from spiritual death to spiritual life. .

Just as Paul also writes:
Ephesians 2:1 And you He has made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins:
Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; (That can happen NOW)

But there is also the resurrection when Jesus comes again in the clouds of glory! That is future.

So Jesus is saying
He is NOW calling people to a spiritual resurrection. Without Him all are dead in sin, He is the power raising them to spiritual life. Hear, believe, respond, rise to spiritual life in Him!
And in the hour to come all who died the physical death, which is the lot of all, will experience a physical resurrections.

As John continues to share Christ's words of explanation in verse 28-29
5:28 the hour is coming, (that is in future) in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, (who have experience the spiritual resurrection in this life) will be raised unto the resurrection of life;
and they that have done evil, (did not respond to Christ for the spiritual resurrection in this life) will be raised unto the resurrection of damnation.

Judgment in John

Those who reject Christ have judged themselves.
But those who believe are assured of eternal life.

John 3:18 He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
3:36 He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.
John 5:22 For the Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.


Jesus, He is Life, and He paid the price needed to forgive sins and redeem sinful mankind. Jesus, Who experience human life with it's trials and frustrations, thus can understand our needs.
He only is worthy to be our judge.
Only He knows Who actually believes, and who are following their own agenda.

Matt. 7:21 Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.
7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

,Luke 1:25 Those who stand without, and knock at the door, saying,. Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
13:26 Then shall they begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and You have taught in our streets.
13:27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity

So what does it mean to BELIEVE?

John 5:22 For the Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
5:27 And has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.


So who makes the decisions?
5:22--The Father gives judgment to Christ
Yes, Christ is our judge. Other verses say the same thing. (Acts 10:42; 17:31, Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:2; 4:8) Yet the Father and Son work together in this. For the verses before this say "The Son does nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do." (5:19) Further in the book Jesus says, "My judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true." (8:16,17)

This corresponds to the great investigative judgment scene in Daniel 7 where the "Ancient of Days takes His seat, the books are opened, the court is seated, and the Son of Man comes with clouds to the ancient of Days. They do work together in judgment.

That is the investigative judgment
Now comes the executive judgment

5:27-- The Father...has given him (CHRIST) authority to execute judgment ALSO.
Before executing judgment the sentence was already determined in the investigative judgment. The time is soon at hand when Christ will execute judgment.

What does that look like?

5:29-- They that have done good will be raised in the resurrection of life.

Compare with Revelation 14:13
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from now on: they may rest and their works do follow them.
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that takes part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power.

This first resurrection is the grand trumpet that awakens the sleeping saints, who, with the living saints will all rise together to meet our Lord and Savior in the air.
Forever they will be with the Lord!

5:29-- They that have done evil will be raised in the resurrection of damnation.

Revelation 20 says the rest of the dead live not until the 1000 years are over. Then they rise and try to take God's city by force. But fire comes down from heaven to destroy them. Revelation calls this the second death.

But before the second death, (the death from which there is no resurrections) there is a final scene of judgment before the white throne where God reveals His justice to them as to why they could not be in that glorious city.

God does nothing in secret. He lays everything out in the open so all may see His justice in dealing with sin. Before He executes judgment at the second coming, He investigates. Before He executes the final judgment, He again makes plain to all, the justice of the act which must be performed to cleanse the earth of sin forever.

5.30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Yes, every knee will bow and acknowledge God's justice. His judgment is just, we can depend upon that.

The understanding of a just and fair court case brings assurance to the hearts of Christ's true followers. As long as our lives are hid in Christ and we are abiding in Him and bringing forth the obedient fruits this abiding produces, we have nothing to fear. But apart from Christ condemnation is equally certain.

John 5.30
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

In this chapter Jesus has demonstrated that He is doing the same work as His Father.
God's will is His will!

Giving life (vs. 20,21, 25,28,290
Work of judging (vs. 22,27,30)
And executing judgment (vs 27-29)

Jesus affirms His deity by claiming five times His equality with God
(vs 17-18, (said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God)
19-20, (The Father and the Son are at one in the work)
21, (The Father and Son have the power to resurrect and restore life)
24-29, (Father and Son are the source of life)
30 (Judgment of the Father is the same as that of the Son}

23 (One cannot honor one without honoring the other)

CHRIST'S WITNESS

John 5:31-37
5:31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
5:32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true.
5:33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
5:34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
5:35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
5:36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.

For legal validation, scripture points out that two or three witnesses are needed. (See Duet 17:6, and 19:15)

If I bear witness of myself my witness is not true, or rather it is not legally valid, it doesn't stand up in court.
It's not that Jesus witness of Himself is somehow faulty, but rather that it won't hold up in a judicial setting. Witnesses are needed.

So Jesus gives them four witnesses.

1. The first is John the Baptist's witness. He was a light shining forth truth and for a short time the Jews rejoiced, because the prophetic spirit, which had so long ceased, seemed to be again revived in him.
John's mission had been to prepare people to receive Jesus the Messiah. And as we saw in previous chapters, John pointed people to Jesus. He bore witness unto truth.

However, Jesus makes it plain that even the testimony of this great prophet was still the witness of a mere man, and he was not dependent upon that. Yet, though Christ cannot depend upon John's testimony, it should have had weight with his hearers.

They should have seen the truth of John's words in the works of Christ

Jesus had greater witness than the words of a man!!!

2. His works bore witness to all he had said.
The miracles God the Father had given Him to do.
The life and teachings He was giving, all testified that He was the Son of God, the Messiah.

But an even greater witness yet:
3. The Voice of God spoke, "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" Mattthew 3:17

4. And a final witness was the Word of God, the scriptures.
There was so much written in the Old Testament pointing to the work of Christ, which should have alerted people when and as to what to look for, so to recognize him, that if they had considered those things, they would have been conviction that Jesus was the Christ, and that he was sent of God.

But the words of scripture, though their minds knew the scripture, had not reached the heart. The word of God did not abide in them.

John chapter five is such a powerful chapter.
Jesus is in Jerusalem trying to reach the hearts of the leaders of the nation.

It starts with the story of the sick man at the pool of Bethesda.
Jesus asks the all important question. This question has deep meaning for every person in this sin sick world.

DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WHOLE?

Jesus is the only ONE who can make us whole!

The Jewish leaders took offense and started laying plans to silence Jesus.
This so sadly reflects the attitude of our times. Why do so many people try so hard to silence the truth, and take God out of the picture, when HE is life, light and the only hope for mankind.

Jesus is straight forward with them.
He makes it clear that He is doing the same work as God the Father! If they reject Him, they are rejecting God the Father as well! Everything He is doing is the will of the Father.
"He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which has sent him. "

He has the same power as the Father
to make people WHOLE.
To raise them from the dead, and give them life.
To judge and execute judgement.

Jesus appeals to them, saying, don't just take my word for it, check it out.
Here are the witnesses that what I claim is truth.
1. A human witness-- John the Baptist told them the truth about Christ.
2. God's own voice at His baptism "This is My beloved Son"
3. Christ's works
4. The prophecies of scripture.

5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify (witness concerning) me.

And then the sad words:
5:38 But you (even though you know the scriptures) do not have God's word abiding in you: for whom He has sent, you do not believe.
5:40 And you will not come to me, that you might have life.
5:46 If you had believed Moses, you would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
5:47 But if you didn't believe his writings, how shall you believe my words?

John 5:38-40
5:38And you have not his word abiding in you: for the One whom he has sent, him you do not believe .
5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.



The Word of God, (the scriptures) are a primary witness of Christ.

Search the scriptures, Jesus says, they testify of Me.
Jesus points them to Moses and the Prophets whose writings were held in high regard by the people in Jerusalem. The words of Moses and the Prophets condemn those who reject Jesus, for those scriptures have pointed the people to find the source of life and salvation in the Messiah.

And you have not his word abiding in you. Which means that you have no inner appropriation of the word. Scripture becomes just a dead letter that may have been read and even memorized, but until it becomes part of one's life and being, God's word is not abiding in you.
The scriptures were not a fresh testimony different from anything they had heard before, they had read the scriptures looking for life. Yet if God's word would have been abiding in them, then seeing Christ's works and life would have found a strong confirming response in their mind. He was the promised Messiah! The testimony of Scripture pointed to Christ as the Messiah.

Because him (Christ) whom he (the Father) sent, him (this One) you believe not. In other words, this is the proof that you do not have God's word abiding in you, you do not recognize the One sent from God the Father. Though you may claim to worship God the Father, yet ?Every man that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me (Jesus);? (John 6:45) and in seeing the Son they see the Father; (John 14:9),

And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. meaning: you are not willing to come to Me.

Scriptures are a witness of the Life Giver, they point us to the Life Giver, but we must be willing to come to the Life Giver! The choice is ours. It is only in Christ that we may find and receive eternal life!
.