Jesus: ¹⁹ The truth is that the Son does nothing on His own; all these actions are led by the Father. The Son watches the Father closely and then mimics the work of the Father. ²⁰ The Father loves the Son, so He does not hide His actions. Instead, He shows Him everything, and the things not yet revealed by the Father will dumbfound you. ²¹ The Father can give life to those who are dead; in the same way, the Son can give the gift of life to those He chooses.

²² The Father does not exert His power to judge anyone. Instead, He has given the authority as Judge to the Son. ²³ So all of creation will honor and worship the Son as they do the Father. If you do not honor the Son, then you dishonor the Father who sent Him.

²⁴ I tell you the truth: eternal life belongs to those who hear My voice and believe in the One who sent Me. These people have no reason to fear judgment because they have already left death and entered life.

²⁵ I tell you the truth: a new day is imminent—in fact, it has arrived—when the voice of the Son of God will penetrate death’s domain, and everyone who hears will live. ^26-27 You see, the Father radiates with life; and He also animates the Son of God with the same life-giving beauty and power to exercise judgment over all of creation. Indeed, the Son of God is also the Son of Man. ²⁸ If this sounds amazing to you, what is even more amazing is that when the time comes, those buried long ago will hear His voice through all the rocks, sod, and soil ²⁹ and step out of decay into resurrection. When this hour arrives, those who did good will be resurrected to life, and those who did evil will be resurrected to judgment.

³⁰ I have not ever acted, and will not in the future act, on My own. I listen to the directions of the One who sent Me and act on these divine instructions. For this reason, My judgment is always fair and never self-serving. I’m committed to pursuing God’s agenda and not My own.

³¹ If I stand as the lone witness to My true identity, then I can be dismissed as a liar. ³² But if you listen, you will hear another testify about Me, and I know what He says about Me is genuine and true. ³³ You sent messengers to John, and he told the truth to everyone who would listen. ³⁴ Still his message about Me originated in heaven, not in mortal man. I am telling you these things for one reason—so that you might be rescued. ³⁵ The voice of John the Baptist, the wandering prophet, is like a light in the darkness; and for a time, you took great joy and pleasure in the light he offered.

³⁶ There’s another witness standing in My corner who is greater than John or any other man. The mission that brings Me here, and the things I am called to do, demonstrate the authenticity of My calling which comes directly from the Father. ³⁷ In the act of sending Me, the Father has endorsed Me. None of you really knows the Father. You have never heard His voice or seen His profile. ³⁸ His word does not abide in you because you do not believe in the One sent by the Father.

³⁹ Here you are scouring through the Scriptures, hoping that you will find eternal life among a pile of scrolls. What you don’t seem to understand is that the Scriptures point to Me. ⁴⁰ Here I am with you, and still you reject the truth contained in the law and prophets by refusing to come to Me so that you can have life.

⁴¹ This kind of glory does not come from mortal men. ⁴² And I see that you do not possess the love of God. ⁴³ I have pursued you, coming here in My Father’s name, and you have turned Me away. If someone else were to approach you with a different set of credentials, you would welcome him. ⁴⁴ That’s why it is hard to see how true faith is even possible for you: you are consumed by the approval of other men, longing to look good in their eyes; and yet you disregard the approval of the one true God. ⁴⁵ Don’t worry that I might bring you up on charges before My Father. Moses is your accuser even though you’ve put your hope in him ⁴⁶ because if you believed what Moses had to say, then you would believe in Me because he wrote about Me.