the coming hour

Devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2398

John 5:28-30

Joh 5:28 Do not be surprised about this, because an hour is coming when all the ones in the tombs will hear his voice
Joh 5:29 and go out– those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done worthless things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Joh 5:30 “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is fair, because I do not seek what I want, but what the one who sent me wants .

the coming hour

The healing beside the porticoes continues to serve as the living backdrop for Jesus’ teaching about two distinct “hours”—one already unfolding in the present, and one still waiting on the horizon of history. The moment Jesus spoke and restored the crippled man becomes a symbolic doorway into both realities. That man, helpless and unable to rise, responded to the authoritative voice of Christ and was made whole. His experience becomes a sign of what Jesus is describing: life given where no life remained, strength granted where strength had long since disappeared.

Jesus now turns attention to the future hour—the hour of physical resurrection. During His earthly ministry, He raised several people from the dead, but none of them became immortal. Each one eventually returned to the dust, just as every person must. Their restorations were real, but they were temporary signs pointing beyond themselves. They were previews, not the final event.

The future hour Jesus speaks of will be different. It will not be a temporary restoration but a permanent transformation. It will not be a return to mortal life but the beginning of immortal life. It will not be a private miracle witnessed by a few but a universal moment in which all who lie in their graves will hear the voice of the Son of God. The same voice that once commanded a crippled man to rise will call the dead of all ages back to life. That hour will arrive when the Savior returns, and the world will never be the same again.

This hope does not erase the reality of death, but it reframes it. Death becomes a temporary rest rather than a destination, a pause rather than an ending. The promise of resurrection rests not on human strength or spiritual achievement but on the authority of Christ’s voice—the same voice that healed, restored, and called people to faith during His ministry.

Lord, come.