J. Albrecht…Trinity 23…Nov. 8, 2026…John 5:19-29…Viewing Our Lives in Light of the Last Day 1. We will rejoice if our lives are full of honor for the Son of God. 2. We will rejoice if our lives are full of faith in the saving Gospel. 3. We will rejoices if our lives are full of hope for eternal blessedness.

19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 “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 passed 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 graves 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.
The love of God our Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, Amen.
INJ, the eternal Son of God who took on human flesh to be our Savior, Giver of Life, and Judge over all, DFR:
Our text this morning brings the account of the healing at Bethesda to a close. We have covered it in our Gospel lessons over previous weeks. Jesus had met a man who was lame from birth. He graciously healed him of his ailment and sent him on his way. However, when the Jewish leaders caught wind of it they not only interrogated the man, but blasphemously accused Jesus of breaking God’s Law and making Himself equal to the Father. Our text is Jesus’ response. In it, Jesus makes one weighty statement after another regarding Himself – a wonderful testimony that He is the very Son of God, equal in divine works and honor with the Father; He is the Giver of life with God, the Resurrector of the bodily dead, and the judge of all men.
These words before us this morning are a warning to all people that the Last Day is coming quickly. And there is only one path to avoid the resurrection of condemnation: That is to know and believe in Jesus as the Son of God who took on human flesh to deliver us from sin and death.
This morning, let us examine our lives in light of that last great day and see: We will rejoice if our lives are full of honor for the Son of God. We will rejoice if our lives have faith in the saving Gospel. We will rejoice our lives were full of hope for eternal blessedness.
1. We will rejoice if our lives are full of honor for the Son of God.
We show honor to Jesus in the way we regard Him, namely as the Son of God equal to the Father.
All the Father does, Jesus does. Meaning, Jesus did not come as a rogue Savior who did whatever suited His fancy. Nor did He come to simply walk a strict pattern set by the Father like how we seek to live our lives imitating Christ. Jesus came in complete unity and oneness with the Father. Even according to His human nature, Jesus is the image of the invisible God as Paul says in Colossians 1. The Father reveals His works to the man Jesus because of the perfect love that exists between them from eternity. Nothing Jesus does is out of step with the Father’s will. Every miraculous healing or provision is done with the Father’s blessing.
Thus, Jesus lived the perfect life we could not. God’s original intent with man was that mankind would abide in His will forever and do the work that the Father does, know God and have that perfect unity of love. Sin destroyed that relationship. By nature, we do not know the Father’s works, His will, or His love. Jesus, being equal to the Father, knows those perfectly and lived them out in His life. Most importantly in working out our salvation.
The Father revealed to Jesus exactly what would be required of Him to win our salvation. The lowly life of obedience He must lead for us and the bitter death in our place. Every step of the way Jesus chose obedience to His Father to be your Savior from sin and death – making Jesus deserving of all honor for fulfilling the Father’s plan. Being the effector of our salvation is the beginning of the “greater works” Jesus references. His life and death on the cross are far more marvelous than all the works of healing and providing He did during His life, for by that greater work, He dispenses life to all.
21 “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. The “life” here spoken of is not the resurrection of the dead – that will come later. Rather, it is the spiritual resurrection that Jesus gives through His work of redemption. In the first chapter John wrote, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. Without Christ, there is no life, there is darkness. Without His work of redemption, there is no rejoicing or joy, there is terror and dread. Jesus gives life. His saving work is a fountain of water that refreshes thirsting souls with forgiveness and grace. The right for Jesus to dispense life is His reward as God foretold through the prophet Isaiah, He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. And, Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death.
Come the Last Day, Jesus will appear as the Judge of all men. 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. The criteria with which Jesus will judge is how people received Him. The Son of Man won life for all mankind by His death and righteous life. He desires to give this faith to all, acquitting and welcoming into heaven those who trust in Him by faith. But those who reject Him and spurn His work, He commits to eternal damnation.
For many years when Martin Luther was a monk, he looked at our text with great fear. He saw Jesus as this righteous Judge who would only look upon his wretched sins with divine retribution. Certainly, Jesus could look upon our lives and see terrible sins worthy of condemnation. But why can we rejoice in our lives, marred by sins as they are, in view of that Last Great Day? Because Jesus isn’t just our Judge. He is our Advocate. When it comes to those whose lives were filled with honor for Him, Jesus will step down from the judgment throne to speak on your behalf, that you have passed from death into life.
How can you be sure He will speak as your Advocate? Honoring Jesus in your life today. That is, by looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith and receiving from Him grace and forgiveness. By bringing yourself and those in your care to church to receive God’s strength in His promises. By presenting yourself as a living sacrifice to God with pure and holy living as you are a temple of the Holy Spirit – belonging to Him and not to your flesh. By picking up your cross and following Him and confessing His name before all people – even if it means persecution. Honoring Jesus in our lives is an exhaustive list – one in which we should never grow tired of doing, but also one that would be impossible if it weren’t for another assurance of Jesus’ advocacy: Saving faith in the Gospel so that you know it.
2. We will rejoice if our lives were full of faith in the saving Gospel.
“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 passed 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.
This word of Jesus, the Gospel, is full of power and life. It enables dead sinners to hear the gospel with their hearts as well as their ears, overcoming the resistance of both the reckless, defiant sinner and of the self-righteous sinner. It plants trust in the Son of God, who is the core of its message. By pointing sinners to Himself, Jesus shows that He gives eternal life right now, the moment one comes to faith. And not even death can stop or interrupt this new life.
Jesus has taken away our sin and guilt. The Father sees us as righteous, without sin, for Jesus’ sake. Your sin cannot earn God’s condemnation now, nor can they bring on God’s condemnation of hell on the Last Day. Picture it this way: A sinner was standing on one side of a river with the mass of mankind. All were marked for eternal death. But then Jesus came with His Gospel and worked faith in that sinner’s heart. At once he was lifted to the other shore. And now he stands with all those who will not be condemned, but will live with God now and forever.
When does this happen? It began with Jesus’ own testimony; it continued with John and the Apostles’ preaching; and it continues today whenever the Gospel is proclaimed and the spiritually dead are called awake by its power. This phenomenal work of Christ does not stop; it will not stop until the physical resurrection of the dead and the final judgment. But now, it is not enough to know the Gospel, it must be your own.
Jesus said the Pharisees would marvel at His works. They heard the Gospel often and even read about it in the Old Testament Scriptures. But it never became their own. Their marveling was worse than useless; it was fatal. They saw the “greater work” of the Gospel in action, bringing sinners to faith in Christ and the eternal life that became theirs. Rather than rejoicing in God’s grace, they lashed out against it; resorted to stop the “Jesus movement” by any means necessary, including murder. But these actions, they sealed their fate. At the Last Day, they will be full of awe that Jesus returns as their Judge. With great fear they will be forced to bow the knee before Jesus and confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
So it will be for anyone who rejects the Gospel and fights against it. Theirs will be the vain marveling of lost souls. But for you, the sinner who trusts in what the Gospel says, “The Son of God lived and died for me, a lost sinner,” this Gospel is your own. You receive the life it offers, the peace and joy it promises because you will not come into condemnation, but receive the realization of the hope of your faith: eternal blessedness.
28 “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 “and come forth–
On that Last Great Day, all the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. All will come forth in the bodily resurrection, but it will not mean the same to all: those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. Who are those who have done good? The Bible tells us that any good can only flow from faith. Those whose works flow out of unbelief, Jesus will say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
But those who rely upon Jesus’ own words, He who believes and is baptized will be saved. To such a one as this, Jesus will greet, Well done, good and faithful servant. He will hold you up before the world, acquit you of all sin for His name’s sake, and walk with you into eternal paradise forever. Then we will know true righteousness and holiness. We will see God and know Him directly even as we know ourselves. This is the eternal bliss that awaits all who put their faith in Jesus. What joy awaits us there!
But what joy we have right now! Examining our Lives in Light of the Last Great Day reminds us of Jesus’ words in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Rejoice! Today your life honors the Son of God. Rejoice! Today you have saving faith in the Gospel. Rejoice! The eternal blessedness is yours. Soon your Savior comes to make your faith sight! Amen.