indicates the true condition of both the impenitent and the believer; the one is already in death, from which he can only be delivered by the Life-giver; the other has already entered into eternal life. This is not a future reward reserved for him; it begins here and now, though it is to be consummated hereafter. _The_ life is spiritual life, _the_ death spiritual death. Of these great realities physical life and death are but tropes and symbols. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead[180] shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. [180] verse 28; Ephes. 2:1. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life[181] in himself; [181] 1 Cor. 15:45. 27 And hath given him authority[182] to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. [182] verse 22. =25-27. The hour is coming, and now is, when=, etc. The resurrection here spoken of is then one already taking place. In order to meet this evident requirement of the verse, those commentators who regard Christ as throughout this passage speaking of the final resurrection suppose here a reference to the cases of resurrection which took place in connection with his ministry. But none such had as yet taken place; moreover, this construction requires us to suppose that Christ used the word _life_ in one sense in the preceding verse and in another sense here, without giving any indication of the change of meaning. His reference then I believe to be here, as throughout this passage up to verse 28, to spiritual death and spiritual resurrection.--=For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given to the Son to have life in himself.= Norton renders this somewhat enigmatical verse liberally, thus: “For as the Father is the fountain of life, so hath he given to the Son to be the fountain of life.” This must be regarded rather as a paraphrase than as a translation; but it embodies well the meaning of the verse, as indicated by the context. No man is a fountain of life to any other man. He may be a conduit, but not a source. It is given to Christ to be a source of life himself to others. We live only as we draw continuously our life from God; to the Son the Father has given life in such a sense that he becomes himself the life of the world, and thus the life-giver to the dead.--=Because he is a Son of man.= Not, as in the English version, _the_ Son of man. The omission of the article is significant, for without the article the phrase son of man means simply one of the human race; with the article it always means the Messiah. Here then the meaning is that Christ is to be the judge of all the earth, because he has taken on himself human nature. Why is this any reason that he should be the judge of the world? The answer is, I think, indicated by Heb. 5:15: “We have not an high-priest which cannot be touched with the feeling