Bible Studies

BLIND, DEAF AND DEAD

by Luella Campbell
01/12/14
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BLIND, DEAF AND DEAD

"'Very truly, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.

"'Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice will come out -- those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.'" John 5:25-29 (NIV).

These are either the words of a lunatic or they are the authoritative words of the Son of God.

John introduced Jesus to his readers as the "Word". In Hebrew thought this meant God manifest in another form. It was John's purpose to present Jesus as the Son of God so that all who believe in Him might have life through His name. His claims, therefore, had to be more than the wild aspirations of a maniac. What He said had to be backed up by what He was and what He did.

Let's look at the claims He was making in His attempt to convince His opponents that He was their Messiah. Jesus was doing more than setting out to prove that He was right and they were wrong. He was in a struggle for their lives and their destiny which hung on their acceptance or rejection of His words.

He had already, early in His ministry, begun to do "signs" to point to the truth of who He was claiming to be. It was His latest sign, healing the paralysed man at the pool of Bethesda that had provoked this altercation with His religious opposition. They accused Him of breaking the Sabbath and calling God His Father, making Himself equal with God.

His response was shocking to them. Not only was He calling God His Father, but now He was also asserting that He was doing the things only God can do because the Father had given Him the authority to do them, for example, to Him was give the power to raise the dead, the authority to judge and equal honour with the Father. He even went as far as to declare that those who heard His word and believed in the Father would step over into the realm of eternal life.

The dead, both those who have already passed on and those who are alive in the natural realm but dead to the dimension of God, will hear His voice and those who respond to Him will cross over into an eternal life in His kingdom and under His authority because He is the Son of Man. Now that's a loaded statement!

Jewish people, schooled in the Word of God, would immediately recognise that Jesus was referring to the book of Daniel where, in Daniel's vision in chapter 7, he saw "one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." Daniel 7:13, 14 (NIV), and Jesus was claiming to be the fulfilment of that prophecy!

It's no wonder His opponents were incensed by His words. They could not see the truth because they were blinded by their prejudice and their unwillingness to face their own wickedness and open their eyes and hearts to the truth.

They did not understand that Jesus was offering them, His avowed enemies, the opportunity to align themselves with Him and become part of the glorious kingdom He was introducing to His people. They persistently shut their minds to the truth of who He was and forfeited the greatest gift of all -- life in union with Jesus in the presence of God in an eternal now and under His benevolent rule.

The same invitation is open to everyone who is willing to see beyond their own prejudice to the reality that Jesus is the Son of God and that His offer of eternal life is genuine because He is the truth and He spoke the truth.