"Going"
"THERE'S A GREAT DAY COMING"
We often sing the song, "There's a Great Day Coming," which is absolutely true. We know that from a number of Bible passages, such as Romans 14:11-12; and 2 Corinthians 5:10. Romans 14:10 states that "we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Verse 12 adds: "So then each of us shall give account of himself to God." 2 Corinthians 5:10 also admonishes: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" and adds that "each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad."
But perhaps the passage most pertinent to this Great Day that we sing about is John 5:28-29, where Jesus spoke these words:
"Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth o those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29).
No one has any problem understanding what these words mean o except the AD 70 heretics, who insist that all of these passages were fulfilled almost 1,950 years ago. But Steve Baisden, in commenting on my review of the Denham Neubauer Debate wrote these words:
Summers said: "On that day, all shall be raised bodily from the dead." Inquiring (honest) minds want to know where this passage says that "ALL" men everywhere both dead and alive will be raised bodily, and by "bodily" Summers means with flesh and blood in physical bodies like Hollywood's Night of the Living Dead! In other words, he made that up!
Summers did not make up anything. Jesus is the One Who said that "ALL" who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth. All is a small word; could the critic have missed it?
A second point to ask is, "What is in the grave that will come out of it?" For example, when Jesus called, "Lazarus, come forth!" (John 11:43), what was it that exited the tomb? Lazarus' physical body came out. We assume that his spirit returned from the Hadean realm and was reunited with his body first, since this action is what would have made him alive, but in any case his physical body came out of the tomb.
What comes forth from the grave in John 5:28-29? The answer is that the physical body emerges. Each person's spirit may be reunited with the individual first, but nevertheless the physical body rises because it is the only thing in the grave. The spirit resides in the Hadean realm, and the body is buried in the ground.
Even Solomon was aware of this circumstance: "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it" (Ecc. 12:7). We know what God does with the spirit when it returns to Him. He assigns it a place in the Hadean realm, as delineated in Luke 16:19-31.
Peter gave the same explanation on the Day of Pentecost, and no one listening to him challenged him on it. He affirmed that God raised up Jesus from the dead and that the apostles were all witnesses (Acts 2:32). Previously, he had quoted from a prophecy that David had made concerning Christ. It is clear that the soul resides in Hades (Acts 2:27). However, the body lies in the grave; Jesus' body, although buried, did not see corruption (Acts 2:31). His physical body was raised up from the dead, but first the Father authorized His Spirit to leave the Hadean realm and return to His body. If bodies were raised up without the spirit being united, one would indeed face the nightmare of soulless bodies walking around, wreaking havoc.
That a person is divided into two parts at death is taught throughout the Scriptures. In fact, James even defines death as the body being without the spirit (2:26). Clearly, the body goes to the grave and returns to dust while the spirit returns to God Who gave it, and He assigns it a place in the Hadean realm (either the side in which torments exist or the section called Abraham's bosom or Paradise).
Paul describes it the same way in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Jesus is going to bring those with Him who died as faithful Christians (v. 14). The text does not state it outright, but the only place He could get them from is the Hadean realm, where they have been dwelling. (Some think they are already in Heaven, but so far as this point is concerned, it matters not at all.) The spirits return with Jesus (either from Heaven or Hades)
What is raised then from the grave? It cannot be spirits; they are with Jesus. Yet, the text clearly states: "And the dead in Christ will rise first" (v. 16b). The spirits will not descend to the earth to meet the bodies; the bodies will ascend to be reunited with the spirits. Then those who are alive and remain shall ascend also. So, yes, all men everywhere will be raised bodily. Summers did not make up anything. If "ALL" men are not being raised, where does John 5:28-29 provide any exceptions? Nobody sees in the passage the words, "ALL men alive prior to and at the time of AD 70 o but not those born since that time."
Third, Summers also did not make the blunder of saying that men "dead and alive (emphasis gws) will be raised bodily." Those who are alive are not in the tomb and have no need of being raised. They are already up! Summers only taught what the Scriptures teach. Baisden made no effective response.
What Do Others Say?
Since the first century, thousands of commentators have commented on John 5:28-29. Below are a few good ones o two from denominational folks and one from a brother.
Albert Barnes (Presbyterian): All the dead, of every age and nation. They are described as in the graves. Though many have turned to their native dust and perished from human view, yet God sees them, and can gather their remains and raise them up to life. The phrase all that are in the graves does not prove that the same particles of matter will be raised up, but it is equivalent to saying all the dead. See Notes on 1 Co. xv. 35-38. He will restore them to life, and command them to appear before him (Barnes' Notes: The Gospels (2:235).
Matthew Henry (Methodist): The grave is the prison of dead bodies, where they were detained. Yet, in prospect of their resurrection, we may call it their bed, where they sleep to be awaked again. How shall they be raised. (a) The efficient of this resurrection: They shall hear his voice. A divine power shall go along with the voice, to put life into them, and enable them to obey it. (b) The effect of it: They shall come forth out of their graves (The Matthew Henry Commentary 1,532).
Brother Tom Wacaster: "We note that all men shall hear the voice of Jesus. When they hear the voice, they (all men) "shall come forth" from the grave. They shall all, at one and the same time, be raised from the graves. We note also that there are two classes of men: "they that have done good," and "they that have done evil." All men fall into one of these two classes. We are either doers of good, or evil" (The Magnificence of Jesus, Volume 1, page 212).
Implications
Most commentators choose to discuss other aspects of the passage because what is taught in John 5:28-29 is so obvious. Baisden took issue (erroneously) with the comments made on this passage, but what alternate explanation did he offer? He seems to take issue with the fact that the passage says that "ALL" men shall be raised from the dead. Therefore, he must not think that "ALL" men should come forth from the tombs. Okay. Why not? If "ALL" are not coming forth, perhaps he could tell us who is coming back to life and who is not o and why. Why are not "ALL" men coming forth to be judged?
He mocks at the idea that dead bodies are going to be walking around like zombies if the dead bodies come forth. So, does he not owe us an explanation of what he thinks will come out of the tomb? Only the physical body has been buried. It is, therefore, a mystery as to what else might come out. Only a very few, select men, apparently, can answer this question, and the rest of us are waiting for an explanation. Our minds beg for enlightenment.
What Is Not Mentioned
The AD 70 adherents tend to conflate all passages mentioning judgment with the Destruction of Jerusalem. Just because that once-holy city was conquered and demolished does not means that all other passages referring to judgment refer to it. In Matthew 24 (and various parallel passages in Mark and Luke) Jesus made the observation concerning the temple that "not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Matt. 24:2).
But in John 5:28-29 Jesus did not mention the temple, nor did He say anything about the city of Jerusalem or the Romans. The same can be said of other passages, such as Romans 14:12-14; 2 Corinthians 5:10, and 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10. For someone to say that these all refer to the Destruction of Jerusalem is a colossal assumption for which there is no evidence.
And what about Paul's sermon on Mars' Hill? In Acts 17:16 Paul had come to the city of Athens, and he took advantage of the opportunity to get into a discussion with "certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers" (v. 18). He preached a thought-provoking lesson on the subject of idolatry, finishing with the comment that God overlooked these times of ignorance, "but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30-31).
Now what most of us see here is the Day of Judgment (mentioned in the other passages already cited), but what the leaders of the AD 70 group see is the Destruction of Jerusalem o even though nothing of the sort is in the context o or even hinted at. Neither the text nor the context indicates God has appointed a day in which He will judge Jerusalem. How would a mostly pagan city have possibly ever thought of an event concerning the Jews from what Paul taught in these words? No one could logically conclude such a preposterous idea.
The Bible teaches that there will be a Day of Judgment in which all persons shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. They shall be called forth from the graves in order to appear there. Some will be raised up to a resurrection of life while others shall be raised up to a resurrection of damnation (John 5:29).
The Destruction of Jerusalem was an entirely different event. And it was the second time Jerusalem was destroyed, the first time being accomplished by Babylon in 586 B.C. Prophets foretold of the destruction of other nations, also, but none of these refers to the Day of Judgment. And why would God choose to judge all mankind (from the Creation four thousand plus years earlier to AD 70) but the rest of mankind from AD 70 onward some other way? Who can actually believe that God had one Day of Judgment for the pre-AD 70 people but none for the rest of mankind? No, John 5:28-29 stands unassailed, as Christians have always believed.