Judgeth no man - Jesus in these verses is showing his "equality with God." He affirmed John 5:17 that he had the same power over the Sabbath that his Father had; in John 5:19, that he did the same things as the Father; in John 5:21 particularly that he had the same power to raise the dead. He now adds that God has given him the authority to "judge" men. The Father pronounces judgment on no one. This office he has committed to the Son. The power of judging the world implies ability to search the heart, and omniscience to understand the motives of all actions. This is a work which none but a divine being can do, and it shows, therefore, that the Son is equal to the Father.

Hath committed ... - Hath appointed him to be the judge of the world. In the previous verse he had said that he had power "to raise the dead;" he here adds that it will be his, also, to "judge" them when they are raised. See Matthew 25; Acts 17:31.

The Father judgeth no man - This confirms what he had said before, John 5:17, John 5:19, that the Father acts not without the Son, nor the Son without the Father; their acts are common, their power equal.

For the Father judgeth no man,.... That is, without the Son; which is another proof of their equality: for that he does judge is certain; he is the Judge of the whole earth; he is God that judgeth in the earth, or governs the world with his Son, who works together in the affairs of providence: he judged and condemned the old world, but not without his Son, who by his Spirit, or in his divine nature, went and preached to the spirits now in prison, then disobedient in the times of Noah; he judged and condemned Sodom and Gomorrah, but not without the Son; for Jehovah the Son rained, from Jehovah the Father, fire and brimstone upon those cities, and consumed them; he judged the people of Israel, and often chastised them for their sins, but not without his Son; the angel of his presence that went before them; he judges all men, and justifies and acquits whom he pleases, but not without his Son; but through his justifying righteousness, which he imputes to them; in doing which he appears to he a just judge, and to do right; and he will judge the world in righteousness at the last day by his Son, whom he has ordained; so as the Son does nothing without the Father, the Father does nothing without the Son, which shows perfect equality. The Jews had an officer in their sanhedrim, whom they called Ab Beth Din, or "the father of the house of judgment", to whom belonged the trying of causes, and of judging and determining them. Hence the Targumist on Sol 7:4 says,

, "and the father of the house of judgment", who judgeth thy judgments, or determines thy causes, is mighty over thy people, &c.''

Whether there may not be some allusion here to this officer, I leave to be considered:

but hath committed all judgment to the Son; as the judgment, or government of his church and people, especially under the Gospel dispensation; and which he exercises by giving ordinances peculiar to it, such as baptism and the Lord's supper; and by enacting laws, and prescribing rules for the discipline of his house, over which he is as a Son; and by appointing proper officers under him, over his churches, to administer these ordinances, and see that these laws are put in execution, which he qualifies them for, by bestowing proper gifts upon them: and he exercises this judgment, by protecting and defending his people from all their enemies, so that they well safely under his government: as also the general judgment of the world at the last day, is committed to him; which affair will be managed by Christ, the Son of God, when he comes a second time; he will then raise the dead, that everyone may receive for the things done in his body, whether good or evil; he will gather all nations before him, and all shall stand before his judgment seat, both great and small; he will separate one from another, the sheep from the goats, and set the one on his right hand, and the other on his left; he will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, and show himself to be the searcher of the hearts, and the trier of the reins of the children of men, and will pass a most righteous and decisive sentence upon all: now for such a trust, and such a work as this, whether the particular government of the church, or the general judgment of the world, he would not be fit, was he not God equal with the Father; the thing he had suggested, and which he supports and maintains in this vindication of himself.

For the Father (οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ)

The A.V. misses the climax in οὐδὲ; not even the Father, who might be expected to be judge.

Hath committed (δέδωκεν)

Rev., given. The habitual word for the bestowment of the privileges and functions of the Son. See John 5:36; John 3:35; John 6:37, John 6:39; John 10:29, etc.

All judgment (τὴν κρίσιν πᾶσαν)

Literally, the judgment wholly.

For the Father {g} judgeth {h} no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

(g) This word judgeth is taken by the figure of speech synecdoche to represent all governing.

(h) These words are not to be taken as though they simply denied that God governed the world, but rather they deny that he governed as the Jews imagined it, who separate the Father from the Son, whereas indeed, the Father does not govern the world, but only in the person of his Son, being made manifest in the flesh: so he says below in Joh 5:30, that he came not to do his own will: that his doctrine is not his own, that the blind man and his parents did not sin Joh 7:16 Joh 9:3, etc.

5:19-21 Then answered Jesus. To their charge of blasphemy. He shows that there is the closest co-operation between the Father and Son. What the Father does the Son will do, even to the extent of giving life to the dead.

5:22 For neither doth the Father judge - Not without the Son: but he doth judge by that man whom he hath ordained, Acts 17:31.

22. For the Father judgeth no man, &c.-rather, "For neither doth the Father judge any man," implying that the same "thing was meant in the former verse of the quickening of the dead"-both acts being done, not by the Father and the Son, as though twice done, but by the Father through the Son as His voluntary Agent.

all judgment-judgment in its most comprehensive sense, or as we should say, all administration.

5:17-23 The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the final judgment, are committed to the Son, purposely that all men might honour the Son, as they honour the Father; and every one who does not thus honour the Son, whatever he may think or pretend, does not honour the Father who sent him.