With Authority
22 “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 22 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has pass3d from death into life. 25 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. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graces will hear his voice 29 and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 20 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
As Christ stood before the Sanhedrin He unfolded before these illustrious men of Israel, the plan of salvation and the true role of the Messiah. In Verse 19 Christ had started speaking by saying “Most assuredly,” or “truly, truly, or “Verily, verily depending on your version of the Bible. Christ was attempting to gain the listeners and readers attention. “Hey, look, pay close attention for this is important for you to understand! “For the Father Judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.” Why would this be? How is it that the Father who has been working non-stop for the restoration of mankind has committed this act of judgement to the Son?
There is a two-part answer to these questions. First the Son, being Jesus Christ is one like us, having been tempted in all ways as we are. This allows Him to understand the trials and temptations that we have endured.
But verse twenty-three gives us the second answer to these two questions. “That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
The Jew’s claimed to Honor God, yet when Christ came to teach and show them the truth regarding God the Father, they rejected Christ. By rejecting Christ the Messiah they rejected God the Father. Therefore, if you profess to Honor the Father, then you should honor the Son.
Yet so many Christians claim to honor the son, yet they continue to live the same life they did before coming to Christ. Jesus, to drive the point home, again uses the term Most assuredly. “I Say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life.
When we accept Christ as our saviour, then our lives should be changed. The old part of us that was made up of sin, was washed away in the watery grave of baptism. When we are lifted out of the watery grave of baptism, we are a new person. “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me” are the words written by Paul (Galatians 2:20 paraphrased).
As Jesus is standing before the Sanhedrin, He is stating a principle that should have shocked His listeners. Not to anger unless the anger was directed toward themselves because of their own lack of understanding. Christ is saying, “As I have surrendered to My Father listening to His words and doing what he would have me to do, this is what we all should be doing. We should listen to and submit to the word and will of Jesus. Because he is heavens representative to us. He shows us the Father in his every word and action. Because Christ has lived as you and I live, but remained free from sin. He remained free from sin, because he submitted His will to the father and therefore the Father has given to Him the authority to judge, because he is one like us and therefore can understand us yet remained sinless.
Christ stated that those who hear, believe and then become doers, then you will have everlasting life. This declaration is more than a promise of things to happen in the future. It is an assurance that the believer now and here may begin to enjoy life that is eternal in quality, because he is united spiritually with His Lord, whose life He shares. “The Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of eternal life.
The passage “From death to life” is not only a bodily transformation at the future resurrection (second coming of Christ) but is also an experience through which every true Christian has already passed and the fruits of which he continues to enjoy. Spiritually the crucial change from death to life comes when a man is born again. This is the point Jesus made to Nicodemus and to the woman at the well. Now before the Sanhedrin, he once again pleads for them to accept Him as the Messiah, because the Father has given all power to grant eternal life unto the Messiah.
Yet Christ says, I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I Judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father that sent Me.
Just think how much more we could be as Christians if we followed the example of Christ. Where we put away our selfish desires and listen to the still small voice of our creator as he guides and directs us in all ways. But this is only possible when we submit to the will of God. Daily keeping in contact with our Lord and Saviour.
The Bible In Your Hand 