ACC ~ John 5 v25

THE HOUR IS NEAR

CHRYSOSTOM: Jesus provides proof by his works, saying, “The hour comes” and then adds, “and now is” to let us know that it will not be long before that hour comes…. For just as in the future resurrection we are roused by hearing his voice speaking to us, [1] so it is now. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 39.2. [2]

[1] 1 Thess 4:16.

[2] NPNF 1 14:139**.

BOTH FATHER AND SON RAISE

AUGUSTINE: Some one might ask Jesus: The Father raises the one who believes in him. But what about you? Do you not raise? Observe that the Son also raises whomever he wants… “the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 23.14. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:157**; CCL 36:243.

THE CREATOR OF ADAM WILL RECREATE US

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS: The one who made the body of Adam out of the earth will raise up the bodies of the rest, and that of the first man, after their decay… He, therefore, who brings about that decay will himself bring about the resurrection. And he who said, “The Lord took dust from the ground, and formed man and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul,” [1] added after humanity’s disobedience, “Earth you are, and to earth you shall return.” [2] This same one promised us resurrection afterwards, for he says, “All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those that hear shall live.” CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 5.1.7. [3]

“THE DEAD” INDICATES THE FLESH

TERTULLIAN: Thus, in the present instance, we have the Spirit giving life to the flesh, which has been subdued by death. For “the hour,” he says, “is coming, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” Now, what is “the dead” but the flesh? And what is “the voice of God” but the Word? And what is the Word but the Spirit, [4] who shall justly raise the flesh that he had once himself become and that too from death, which he himself suffered, and from the grave, which he himself once entered? ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 37. [5]

[1] Gen 2:7.

[2] Gen 3:19.

[3] ANF 7:440*.

[4] Tertullian is speaking of the divine nature of the Son, not to be confused with the third person of the Trinity.

[5] ANF 3:572*.

THOSE WHO BELIEVE WILL LIVE

AUGUSTINE: So those who do not hear [the voice] will not live. What is the meaning of “those who hear it”? Those who believe and obey it, they are the ones who shall live. So before they believed and obeyed, they were lying there dead; they were walking around, and they were dead. What were they good for, walking around dead? And yet if any of them were to die in the body, people would scurry about, dig the grave, put the corpse in a coffin, carry it out—and the dead would bury the dead, of whom it is said, “Let the dead bury their dead.” [1] SERMON 127.7. [2]

[1] Lk 9:60.

[2] WSA 3 4:285*.