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Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth (John 5:28-29)
John 3:13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven
So let us move beyond the simple teachings about Christ. Let us grow up as believers. Let us not start all over again with the basic teachings [next he lists those fundamental doctrines and he mentions]…They taught us that people will rise from the dead (Hebrews 6:1-2)
Psalms 17:15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness
Those of our people who have died will live again! Their bodies will come back to life. All those sleeping in their graves will wake up and sing for joy. As the sparkling dew refreshes the earth, so the Lord will revive those who have long been dead (Isaiah 26:19)
for the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing (Eccl 9:5)
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2)
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a
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Just before shocking those religious teachers, Christ verified it with another remarkable statement. He said in John 3:13 “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”
Surprising? It should shake the foundations of those who believe one goes to heaven, hell or even purgatory at death. Yeshua our Saviour is adamantly and is plainly teaching otherwise!
The English Standard Version says it in this way:
“All who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).
God’s ultimate purpose for our lives is that we be given eternal life in His family through a resurrection. Did you know, in fact, the Bible reveals that there is more than one resurrection? More on that later.
Now if you’re surprised at what Yeshua taught, you need to recognize the importance of the resurrection of the dead doctrine. Just how significant is God’s instruction on rising from the dead?
Did you know that the resurrection of the dead is listed in scripture as one of the basic doctrines of true Christianity?
Yeshua’s shocking teaching of the resurrection jolted the leaders of His day to anger and hatred. He not only chastened them and corrected their misunderstanding but He also taught about God’s true plan for mankind.
Do we understand that plan? Would Yeshua’s teaching shake our understanding? What exactly did He say?
When Yeshua Himself spoke of what lies in the future, He said in a similar paraphrase:
“So don’t be amazed when I tell you these things, for there is a day coming when all who have ever died will hear My voice calling them back to life, and they will come out of their graves!” (John 5:28-29 )
Yeshua said all. Everyone will rise from the dead. Shocking as it may seem, He taught and is saying that our departed loved ones are not off in heaven right now. Does that sound offensive?
Many are astonished to realize that people do not have 'immortal' souls. That means that we don’t go to heaven immediately at death. God has something different in mind. His ultimate purpose for our lives is that you be given eternal life in His family through a resurrection. Our salvation, secured at His vicarious death on the cross occurs when it comes to the matter of judgement.
Yeshua made a shocking claim and people were astounded. They just couldn’t believe it. The Jews persecuted Yeshua and sought to kill Him partly because of this teaching. He was teaching (often) that this is a matter of life and death!
In fact, the teaching of Yeshua contradicted the common belief of His day. Not only that, it also opposes what most Christianity believes today. Perhaps it even challenges what we’ve assumed. I hope it does for you.... at least make you think a bit more circumspectly about what it is that you do think.
What was it that spurred the religious leaders of Yeshua’ time to hate Him? He astonished them, teaching that you don’t go to heaven upon death. Listen to what He told them:
“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28-29).
But what exactly did He mean? How could it be possible that the dead will hear His voice? Aren’t the God-fearing who have died in heaven already? Why would our saviour include all people who have ever lived? The bible does record the word 'all'? How does this fit into God’s overall plan for salvation?
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