John 5

I'm working on finishing the notes for a Sunday school lesson that I'm teaching tomorrow. The scripture is John 5:19-29. The key verse for the lesson is:

Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life (verse 24)

The purpose of the lesson is to explore the connection between faith, judgment and eternal life.

I've had some trouble working through the "logic" of the lesson, so I'm going to outline it here, just to see if it flows:

• The authority of Jesus comes from the Father. Jesus is doing what God is doing. Because of that, Jesus is able to heal the paralyzed man on the Sabbath -- God is working in the world all the time, so Jesus is, too.
• Jesus is doing amazing miracles, but because the father and the son are one, Jesus knows that even more amazing, astounding actions are about to happen. Miracles are not just a sign of the power of Jesus through God. They are signs that Jesus is carrying out the redemption of the world - the same redemption that God is doing. God is working to change a world that is living in sin -- he is working to overcome the effects of a fallen world, a world which includes sin and death.
• Jesus has the power to give life, and that power comes from God.
• Jesus has the power of judgment, given by God. Think for just a moment of judgment in a different way. We have the power to decide between a life of light and darkness. We make that judgment ourselves -- it is our choice.
• To acknowledge the son means to recognize him as Lord. When we do that, since they are one, we are also acknowledging the Father as Lord.
• When that judgment is made, we move from a life in darkness to a life in the light. We move from to eternal life. That eternal life begins now -- it is not something we are waiting for -- it is something that we experience beginning now. A life with God.
• Instead of thinking of the "dead" in the passage as those who have experienced a physical death, think of it as spiritual death. Jesus has the authority and power to confer spiritual life on his hearers.

Eternal life begins as soon as we make the judgment to chose the light over the darkness. It is grace -- a gift. God doesn't make a judgment that we have done enough to earn it. He gives it to us.

We experience divine judgment as grace -- guidance from God. It is the presence of God, working with us to discern what is right and wrong.

I think. Maybe.