Eternal Life Starts Now
John 5:18-24
‘This man can not stop breaking the rules and speaking in ways no man is allowed to…’
The Pharisee’s hearts had grown murderous in their contempt for Jesus. He pushed every flawed framework the Pharisees had for God and the Messiah. Not only was He doing things on the Sabbath that no one was allowed to do according to their earthly rules, but He spoke of Himself in ways no man could. Equal with God.
The Pharisees were angry with Jesus not because they misunderstood Him but because, in the sense of His equality with God, they understood Him quite accurately yet could not accept it. Knowing their hearts' content, Jesus turned His attention to press further into His deity and authority. From this small passage, we understand Jesus is doing nothing apart from the Father (but only as He shows Him), giving life just as the Father does, and carrying out what the Father has tasked Jesus to do. These lofty concepts of power stretching magnitudes beyond what our human minds can bear culminate in the simple reality of what is being offered them (and us).
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” John 5:24.
The discourse of power and authority shifts for a moment away from Jesus’s relationship with God and speaks to the effect of their relationship: eternal life’s availability. Aiṓnios is the Greek word used here for “eternal life.” According to Strong’s Concordance, the intention behind using this word is not to describe something in the future but rather a present quality of life. In the context of Jesus, for His believers, a quality of God’s life is made available to us right now (2021, Discovery Bible).
This is important for us in our consideration of God. The righteous judge and holder of absolute power over humanity is also the one who gives life. This is remarkable, astonishing, and so unfathomable to the Pharisees it seemed blasphemous and would eventually fulfill their wish of killing the only one who could provide the life humanity longs for. Being on the other side of the resurrection (v.21), we know this culminates in Jesus, by His authority, giving His life on our behalf. Not only is the Kingdom of God and eternal life spoken of as being immediately available, but it also means our adoption by a heavenly Father at a high price.
You were adopted at the price of death and given resurrection life by the one who died for you. The implications of Jesus being equal with God means His resurrection and our eternal life with Him, entering into a Kingdom, not of this world. But how much more does this speak to the Father’s heart for us, rebels and sinners, who had no business being there? His power and love coincided, such as to provide this and eternal life by no external means but the simplicity of hearing Jesus’s Word and believing the one who sent Him.
Before you go on with your day, rest in your eternal life in Jesus. Consider the love God has for you, and thank Him.
