The focus of this meditation is on two new things Jesus says in John's gospel about the Father, in relation to resurrection and judgment. First, the Father is the one who raises the dead. Most of us grew up looking to our earthly fathers to be strong and protect us from bad things. Perhaps your father did not protect you. Maybe he even abandoned your family or hurt you. But even a good and protective father cannot save you from Death. Yet Jesus teaches us here that his Father, who is our Father too (Med.#42) is stronger than Death.

Yet when the Father raises the dead, he does not do so by himself. He chooses to partner with Jesus in giving them life. As Son, he does everything in partnership with his Father. So when the latter is about to raise the dead, Jesus speaks; and those who hear and respond to his word pass from death to life, by putting their faith in what the Father (‘the One who sent me’) is doing through Jesus. This can be illustrated by two incidents that happen while Jesus is hanging on the cross. Sensing that his Father is doing something, Jesus first he asks him, out loud, to forgive those who are mocking him.[ii] Then, one of the criminals crucified with him, after listening to his word, repents and honors Jesus; and he puts his faith in the Father's forgiveness. Jesus responds to him by giving him the promise of life, with Jesus in Paradise. The second incident happens right after Jesus speaks to the Father and stops breathing. ‘Many dead saints’, who have lived a life of faith in God, are suddenly raised to life. Both incidents relate to what Jesus says about ‘the hour’ that ‘is already here’, when dead people respond to Jesus' voice and are raised to life by the Father.

Yet there is a second phase to the resurrection of the dead saints; for they wait to leave their tombs until after Jesus himself leaves his. Now look back at Jesus' teaching, where he talks about another ‘hour’—one that ‘is coming’ but isn’t yet here: when ‘all’ people come out of their tombs after hearing his voice. One group of them will be raised by the Father ‘into life’, while the other group will be raised by him ‘into judgment’. So on the day of Jesus' resurrection, these resurrected ‘saints’ are even more unconventional as witnesses to that event than are the women (Med.#42). And these saints are evidence of both: the first ‘hour’ of the Day of Resurrection and Judgment, when the righteous dead are raised to life; and the last ‘hour’ of that Day when all people will leave their tombs—including evildoers who are raised ‘into judgment’.

These two ‘hours’ point to a second important aspect of our Father's character—something that doesn't fit most people's stern image of God as Father. The God of the Day of Judgment and Resurrection is a Father who judges no one himself. Though he will eventually raise all people from the dead, he has entrusted all judgment to Jesus. And he has given him this ‘authority’ for two reasons: ‘because he is the “Son of Man”’, a human being who became like us in every way even though he has a heavenly origin (Dan.7:9,13-14); and because his judgments, as a human being here on earth, were always just. For he never sought his own will, but always did everything in partnership with his Father. So the one judging all people is just—in spite of having also experienced: displacement as a refugee, parental misunderstanding, family pressures, hunger, tiredness, poverty, success and failure in ministry, social rejection, grief over the death of a parent and of a friend, betrayal by a trusted co-worker, unjust arrest, violent abuse at the hands of social authorities, the physical and emotional pain of terminal suffering, and even death itself!

Yet this teaching gets even more interesting when we consider what Jesus means by ‘all judgment’. When he speaks of the last ‘hour’ when ‘all’ the dead are raised—either into ‘life’ or into ‘judgment’, based on their deeds—he uses the Greek word for ‘judgment’ [krisis] to indicate a negative determination. Yet this word, and its verb form [krino] are also used in the New Testament for positive judgments. And Jesus is making such a positive judgment, when he ‘chooses’ to give ‘eternal life’ to anyone: who listens to his word, puts his or her faith in the Father, and shows ‘honor’ to both the Son and the Father. Now notice that this giving of ‘life’—the same life that the Son enjoyed with the Father while on earth—is the only kind of judgment Jesus exercises during the first ‘hour’ of resurrection that is ‘already here’. And even in the last ‘hour’, when Jesus calls people out of their tombs, his first judgment is again positive—giving ‘life’ to those who have lived righteous lives. Only then, in this last ‘hour’ does Jesus speak of judgment as a negative determination—for all who have practiced evil. Both the Father and Jesus are more eager to ‘give life’ than to ‘judge’ people in a negative way.

Finally, these texts teach us that resurrection life begins the moment we believe. Jesus' words to the ‘good thief’ indicate that we will be ‘with Jesus’ after death. And the risen saints demonstrate that people in this initial state of resurrection after death can travel and be recognized by others. So when Paul refers to ‘those who have fallen asleep’, he is using ‘sleep’ as a euphemism—like when we say a dead person has ‘passed away’. He is not teaching that we enter a state of limbo after we die. For those who are still alive when Jesus returns have no advantage over those who have died (1 Thes.4:13-18; 1 Cor.15:51-57). All believers already have victory over Death through Jesus' death and resurrection. The Day of Resurrection and Judgment has already begun!

You have a Dad who is stronger than Death, and who is more eager to give life to people than to condemn them—even to a condemned criminal who only exercised faith in the Father and honored Jesus during his last hour on earth. Are you choosing daily to live a life that honors your Eldest Brother, and your Father?

Father, in your great mercy, you have given us new birth; into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for us. (1 Pet.1:3-4)

Because of the blood of Jesus, I draw near to you with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith having my heart sprinkled to cleanse me from a guilty conscience, my body washed with pure water. (Heb.10:19-23)

Though I may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, I know that through faith I am shielded by your power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the Last Time. (1 Pet.1:6,5)

[i] The passage from John 5 is taken from J.K. Mellis, The Good News of the Messiah by the Four Witnesses, pp.54 &298. The remaining Scripture texts are found on pp.266-269.

[ii] Matthew records that at first, both criminals crucified with Jesus were mocking him (Mat.27:44, Med.#41).