^5:21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,⁴⁰ so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.⁴¹^5:22Furthermore, the Father does not judge⁴² anyone, but has assigned⁴³ all judgment to the Son, ^5:23so that all people⁴⁴ will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

^5:24“I tell you the solemn truth,⁴⁵ the one who hears⁴⁶ my message⁴⁷ and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned,⁴⁸ but has crossed over from death to life. ^5:25I tell you the solemn truth,⁴⁹ a time⁵⁰ is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ^5:26For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, ^5:27and he has granted the Son⁵¹ authority to execute judgment,⁵² because he is the Son of Man.

^5:28“Do not be amazed at this, because a time⁵³ is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ^5:29and will come out—the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.⁵⁴^5:30I can do nothing on my own initiative.⁵⁵ Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just,⁵⁶ because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.⁵⁷

More Testimony About Jesus

^5:31“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ^5:32There is another⁵⁸ who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true. ^5:33You have sent to John,⁵⁹ and he has testified to the truth. ^5:34(I do not accept⁶⁰ human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) ^5:35He was a lamp that was burning and shining,⁶¹ and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time⁶² in his light.

^5:36“But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds⁶³ that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds⁶⁴ I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. ^5:37And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people⁶⁵ have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,⁶⁶^5:38nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. ^5:39You study the scriptures thoroughly⁶⁷ because you think in them you possess eternal life,⁶⁸ and it is these same scriptures⁶⁹ that testify about me, ^5:40but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

Read in Logos

John 5:24: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Footnotes

40 Grk “and makes them live.”
41 Grk “the Son makes whomever he wants to live.”
42 Or “condemn.”
43 Or “given,” or “handed over.”
44 Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. “all men”).
45 Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
46 Or “obeys.”
47 Or “word.”
48 Grk “and does not come into judgment.”
49 Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
50 Grk “an hour.”
51 Grk “him.”
52 Grk “authority to judge.”
53 Grk “an hour.”
54 Or “a resurrection resulting in judgment.”
55 Grk “nothing from myself.”
56 Or “righteous,” or “proper.”
57 That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”
58 To whom does another refer? To John the Baptist or to the Father? In the nearer context, v. 33, it would seem to be John the Baptist. But v. 34 seems to indicate that Jesus does not receive testimony from men. Probably it is better to view v. 32 as identical to v. 37, with the comments about the Baptist as a parenthetical digression.
59 John refers to John the Baptist.
60 Or “I do not receive.”
61 He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah was “a flame like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.
62 Grk “for an hour.”
63 Or “works.”
64 Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.
65 The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to clarify that the following verbs (“heard,” “seen,” “have residing,” “do not believe”) are second person plural.
66 You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time. Compare Deut 4:12. Also see Deut 5:24 ff., where the Israelites begged to hear the voice no longer—their request (ironically) has by this time been granted. How ironic this would be if the feast is Pentecost, where by the 1st century a.d. the giving of the law at Sinai was being celebrated.
67 Or “Study the scriptures thoroughly” (an imperative). For the meaning of the verb see G. Delling, 2:655–57.
68 In them you possess eternal life. Note the following examples from the rabbinic tractate (“The Sayings of the Fathers”): 2:8, “He who has acquired the words of the law has acquired for himself the life of the world to come”; 6:7, “Great is the law for it gives to those who practice it life in this world and in the world to come.”
69 The words “same scriptures” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the referent (“these”).