John 5:26 - what in the world does it mean?

[squint]

All who exalt their own opinions above divine revelation, all who would change the plain meaning of Scripture to suit their own convenience, or for the sake of conforming to the world, are taking upon themselves a fearful responsibility.

No one is going to be disagreeing with ANY scripture.

I might venture however that certain revelations may not stand very well particularly when they come with threats before substance.

 

[LamorakDesGalis]

In the OT, life was God's gift, whether it was a more "abundant" life on earth or ultimately everlasting life. Example verses:
Deuteronomy 30:20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life,

Psalm 36:9 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

Look at the context of 5:26 and notice the key word life:

John 5:24-26 24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.

Just as God the Father has the power of life, so also Jesus Christ has the power of life. In this context its clearly talking about eternal life.


LDG

 

[Gary51]

But then, why would Jesus have said, "Before Abraham, I Am", and why would Thomas have said to him "MyLord and my God" ?

Possibilities:

At some point God's plan for creation came into His mind. If you think of an author writing a novel he would formulate a story and a character list. It could be that Jesus was the first thought of creation in God's mind, before Abraham, and before everything. So Jesus was the first thought.

Abraham was before Jesus in the flesh, but Jesus was before Abraham in the mind of God.

As for Thomas saying my Lord and my God, the narrator is recording the spoken word and not giving much away in the scene setting.

Maybe, Thomas approached Jesus, took his hands and said, "My Lord"

He may then have let go of Jesus's hands, Looked up to heaven raised his arms to the sky and said, "And my God"

He may have been talking to the Father. The narrator does not describe the scene, only the words.

Just my thoughts....

 

[tansy]

Possibilities:

At some point God's plan for creation came into His mind. If you think of an author writing a novel he would formulate a story and a character list. It could be that Jesus was the first thought of creation in God's mind, before Abraham, and before everything. So Jesus was the first thought.

Abraham was before Jesus in the flesh, but Jesus was before Abraham in the mind of God.

As for Thomas saying my Lord and my God, the narrator is recording the spoken word and not giving much away in the scene setting.

Maybe, Thomas approached Jesus, took his hands and said, "My Lord"

He may then have let go of Jesus's hands, Looked up to heaven raised his arms to the sky and said, "And my God"

He may have been talking to the Father. The narrator does not describe the scene, only the words.

Just my thoughts....

Interesting---had'nt thought of that possibility before.
Still think Jesus is God though

 

[Gary51]

Interesting---had'nt thought of that possibility before.
Still think Jesus is God though

It could be He is a God... God from God.

 

[k4c]

But then, why would Jesus have said, "Before Abraham, I Am", and why would Thomas have said to him "MyLord and my God" ?

If you take some time and study the Scriptures with the idea of everything being in God's mind before it becomes reality the Bible will open up to you in a much clearer way.

Jesus is the Lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world, in God's mind as His plan but we know that Jesus was literally slain 2000 years ago.

Everything we read about Jesus all throughout the Old Testament are glimpses of what's in God's mind. Even we ourselves are foreknown and are part of God's plan.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

This verse is not teaching us that Jeremiah literally preexisted but it is telling us that he was in God's mind as part of His plan just like Jesus was and all of creation.

Regarding Jesus saying He was before Abraham. This too has to do with His Father's plan. The Jews exalted Abraham because he was the father of the faith but Jesus was in the plan of God before Abraham as the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. Lets take a closer look at the verse where Jesus says he was before Abraham.

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.''

The translators used capital letters when Jesus said "I AM" based on their theological mindset. All Jesus was saying is that He was before Abraham as part of God's plan. Lets read the context that leads up to the I AM.

John 8:56-58 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Did you catch what Jesus was referring to? Jesus said that Abraham rejoiced to see His day and saw it. How did Abraham see Jesus' day? He saw it by faith. What day was that? It was a future day when Jesus would be born as the coming Messiah, the seed of Abraham. But listen to the Jews when He said what He said, they did not understand what He meant that's why they said Jesus was not even fifty years old.

Simeon understood the coming day of the messiah when Jesus would be born in the same way Abraham understood.

Luke 2:25-32 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.''

Before Jesus was born He did not literally exist. Hebrews make this very clear.

Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

God spoke to us in many different ways all throughout the Old Testament but it wasn't through Jesus because it's in these last days that He is speaking to us through His Son.

Many people misunderstand this verse because it says God made the worlds through Jesus. They take this to mean the Genesis creation. This too is a translation based on a theological mindset. The word "Worlds" is the word "Age" and is referring to the age to come, which is the kingdom of God. It was this coming age that God created through Jesus. Listen to how God confirms this in the following verses.

Hebrews 2:5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

Did you catch it? Hebrews is referring to the age/world to come that God created through Jesus, not the Genesis creation.