Jesus' Authority

We struggled a bit with John 5:28-29 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice

and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned." We had difficulty determining if this applied to those who had died before Christ came to Earth. It is clear in the Bible that deeds alone won’t earn you a place in heaven.

One academic consideration is that Jesus was talking to Jewish leaders and used this description of the eventual resurrection to connect with the common Jewish belief in resurrection.  

We also discussed the importance of doing even small good deeds. A friend of mine was a Jew and a bomber pilot in WWII. He was shot down and ended up being interrogated by an SS officer who asked him if he was a Jew to which my friend replied, “I am a Lutheran.” The officer said, “No, you are a Jew from Brooklyn, NY and proceeded to tell him his address. My friend was stunned and then the officer whispered, “I was your paper boy and every day when it was freezing and I delivered the paper your mother gave me a cup of hot chocolate.” Then he wrote LUTHERAN on the paper and sent him to a prisoner of war camp. A cup of hot chocolate to a little boy saved her son’s life.