For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.
Parallel translations
- WEB For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.
- KJV For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
- ESV For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
- NKJV For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
- NASB For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.
- NLT For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Just as the Father raises and gives life to the dead, so the Son gives life to whom he wills. Jesus claims divine, life-giving power.
Overview
Raising the dead is a prerogative of God alone, yet Jesus claims to share it fully. The Son gives life sovereignly, 'to whom he desires,' a clear assertion of deity and saving authority. This points to both the spiritual life Christ grants now and the bodily resurrection he will accomplish.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 8:11And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
- Deut 32:39See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
- John 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
- Luke 7:14–15Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up!”
- Acts 26:8Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
- John 11:43–44After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
- John 17:2For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.
- Luke 8:54–55But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!”
- 2 Kgs 5:7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”
- 2 Kgs 4:32–35When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his bed.
- 1 Kgs 17:21Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, please let this boy’s life return to him!”
- Rom 4:17–19As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 5:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.