Listen to Christ to live

Gospel of John 5:17–30

Jesus said to the Jews, “My Father is always at work, and I too am working.” Because he called God his own Father and made himself equal with God, they sought even more to kill him.

Jesus replied, “The Son can do nothing by himself; he does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does also. The Father loves the Son and shows him all he does, and greater works than these will be shown.

As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life. He will not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. The hour is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to judge as the Son of Man. The hour is coming when all who are in their graves 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.

I can do nothing on my own; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

Reflection

Jesus reveals a shared mission with the Father: life, judgment, and truth flow from a relationship of trust and obedience. His work—doing what the Father does, presenting the Father’s love, and inviting all to life eternal—calls us into alignment with God’s will. When we hear the word and believe, we enter not into judgment but into life, because the source of all life is at work in and through Christ.

Reflection Question

How can I more clearly seek and do the Father’s will in my daily choices, trusting that in Christ I share in the Father’s life and judgment?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for revealing the Father’s heart and for inviting me into life that never ends. Help me to listen, believe, and do Your Father’s will with humility and courage. May my words and actions reflect Your unity with the Father, and may I honor You as I honor Him. Amen.

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