John 5:26

Ver. 26. “ For, as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he also given to the Son to have life in himself. ”

The emphasis is on the twice-repeated words ἐν ἐαυτῷ (in himself), which terminate the two clauses. The Son not only has a part in life, like the creature: He possesses it in Himself, and He is thereby the source of it, like the Father Himself hence His voice can give or restore life (John 5:25; comp. John 1:3-4). But, on the other hand, this divine prerogative the Son does not possess except as a gift of the Father. Here is the boldest paradox which it is possible to declare. Life in Himself, what in theology is called aseity, self-existence, given to the Son! We could not get an insight into the solution of this contradiction, unless we saw an analogous contradiction resolved in ourselves.

We possess, as a thing given, the faculty of determining for ourselves, that is, of ourselves morally creating ourselves. We draw at each instant from this faculty moral decisions which appertain peculiarly to ourselves, for which we are seriously responsible before God, and which are transmuted into our permanent character. It is through making us a gift of this mysterious privilege of free action, that God has placed us in the rank of beings made in His image. What freedom is for man, this the divine faculty of living in Himself is for the Son. It is by this means, also, that the subordination of the Son to the Father becomes an act of divine freedom, and consequently, of divine love. By the gift of divine independence to the Son, the Father has given Him everything; by His perfect and voluntary subordination, the Son gives back everything to the Father. To give everything, to give back everything, is not this perfect love. God is love. Thus, not only does God love divinely, but He is also divinely loved. The act expressed by the word, ἔδωκεν (gave), is regarded by Tholuck, Luthardt, Weiss, etc., as a fact falling within the earthly life of Jesus: Jesus possesses, here on earth, spiritual life abiding in Him, and can communicate it to men. But if this were the full meaning of this word, how would it harmonize with John 6:57, where Jesus declares that in His earthly condition “ He lives only by the Father,” just as we, believers, live only by Him. It must, therefore, be acknowledged, that He is speaking of an eternal gift, of a unique prerogative appertaining to His divine state and entering into His essential Sonship. The spiritual resurrection of mankind through Him, this is the work which He wishes to explain in this passage; this work is yet to come; it implies the re- instatement of Christ in His divine state (John 17:1-2; John 17:5). This expression must, consequently, be applied to Him in so far as raised, as man, to the supreme position which He enjoyed, as Logos, before the incarnation. It is from the midst of this glory that He will accomplish the resurrection described in John 5:24-25 (the hour cometh); for it is then only that He can pour out the Spirit (John 7:39; John 17:2). With the spiritual resurrection and judgment is closely connected, as a second divine act, the judgment together with the external resurrection, which is the condition of it.