John 5:21

John 5:21. For even as the Father raiseth up the dead and maketh to live, so the Son also maketh to live whom he will. This verse begins the explanation of the ‘greater works' which the Father ‘will show' unto the Son. In speaking of these, however, the present not the future tense is used, for some of them are even now present in their beginnings, though future in their complete manifestation. The first example of these works of the Father, which ‘the Son also doeth in like manner,' is raising up the dead and making to live. Are the words to be understood in their ordinary sense, or are they figurative? This question can only be answered from the context. On one side John 5:25 is decisive, death being there used of a spiritual state, and not with a physical reference only. On the other hand, John 5:28 unquestionably speaks of the raising of the dead out of their graves. As, therefore, the verses which follow John 5:21 certainly contain an expansion and exposition of the first words of the discourse (John 5:17; John 5:19-21), the general terms of John 5:21 must be employed in their widest sense, including both a physical and a spiritual resurrection and gift of life. This is the more natural, as the miracle of healing has been the fountain of the discourse, and we have seen that in such miracles of our Lord the physical and spiritual worlds are in a remarkable way brought together. The work spoken of is divided into two parts, the raising and the giving of life. The former word ‘raising' is that used in John 5:8 (‘Rise'), and is the first part of the command which then gave life. It is the word rendered ‘awake' in Ephesians 5:14, a passage which the verse before us at once recalls. Whether used literally or in reference to a spiritual resurrection, it denotes the first step in the process of ‘making to live.' Either word might stand by itself to indicate the work: neither in 2 Corinthians 1:9, ‘God which raiseth the dead,' nor in Romans 4:17, ‘God who maketh the dead to live,' is an imperfect act described. But the description is more vivid here, as we see first the transition and then the completed gift. In the language of this Gospel, ‘life' has so deep a significance that ‘maketh to live' must not be limited to the initial ‘quickening,' it is the whole communication of the fulness of life. If this view be correct, we can find no difficulty in the omission of the word ‘raiseth' in the second half of the verse. Once mentioned, it presents the work of giving life so vividly, that afterwards the one word ‘maketh-to-live' is sufficient to bear all the meaning. So in John 5:8 and John 5:11. The command to the sick man had been, ‘Rise and... walk:' when the result is described and the command related by him who has been healed, nothing is said of the arising, for it is included in the gift of life. God ‘maketh alive' (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6): ‘God hath given to us eternal life' (1 John 5:11). However understood, whether physically or spiritually, this is the work of the Father; both in the physical and in the spiritual sense, it is also, we now learn, the work of the Son. In one respect the later part of the verse is not less but more detailed than the earlier. No one can doubt that ‘whom He will' lies implicitly in the first words, but the thought is expressed in regard to the Son only; and the best illustration of it as applied to Him is given by the narrative itself. Amongst the crowd of sick Jesus chose out one especially wretched and consciously helpless, and bestowed on him the free gift of life. So (Matthew 11:25) the wise and prudent are passed by, and babes are the objects of the Fathers merciful will. The Son's will is the manifestation of the Father's purpose. There is no suggestion of an absolute decree. The cure of the sick man was to a certain extent dependent on his own will: ‘Hast thou a will to be made whole?' (John 5:6). The same will to be quickened is necessary to all to whom the will to quicken on the part of the Son extends. What is the source of the will in them is a question not raised: enough that the light appears, and they are attracted to the light and open their hearts to receive it.