23. God did this so that all people will respect the Son the same as they respect the Father. Anyone who does not respect the Son does not respect the Father. He is the one who sent the Son.
24. “I assure you, anyone who hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life. They will not be judged guilty. They have already left death and have entered into life.
25. Believe me, an important time is coming. That time is already here. People who are dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.
26. Life comes from the Father himself. So the Father has also allowed the Son to give life.
27. And the Father has given him the power to judge all people because he is the Son of Man.
28. “Don’t be surprised at this. A time is coming when all people who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice.
29. Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good in this life will rise and have eternal life. But those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.
30. “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told. And my judgment is right, because I am not trying to please myself. I want only to please the one who sent me.
31. “If I tell people about myself, they cannot be sure that what I say is true.
32. But there is someone else who tells people about me, and I know that what he says about me is true.
33. “You sent men to John, and he told you what is true.
34. I don’t need anyone to tell people about me, but I remind you of what John said so that you can be saved.
35. John was like a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.
36. “But I have a proof about myself that is greater than anything John said. The things I do are my proof. These are what my Father gave me to do. They show that the Father sent me.
37. And the Father who sent me has given proof about me himself. But you have never heard his voice. You have never seen what he looks like.
38. The Father’s teaching does not live in you, because you don’t believe in the one the Father sent.