John 5:17ff : VI

Here is the second Truly, truly statement of John Chapter Five:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and

believes Him who sent Me,

            has eternal life, and

           does not come into judgment, but

                 has passed out of death

                                                into life.

Just as Yahweh proclaimed His name to Moses (Exodus 33:17 – 34:7), that is, just as Yahweh proclaimed who He is, so Jesus Christ proclaims who He is; God of very God. While Moses could not see the face of God on Sinai (Exodus 33:20), in the Incarnation we behold the face of God in Jesus Christ. The Gospel writer sets the stage for this understanding with the words, No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him, John 1:18. Since 1:18 is the conclusion of John’s Introduction, it sets the trajectory for what follows in the Gospel narrative, and what follows is God descending from the heavens, descending from Sinai (if you will) and revealing Himself to mankind.

He who hears My word - - - - -  and - - - - -  believes Him who sent Me

There is an identity of hearing and believing in the Son and the Father. To hear the Word of the Son is to hear the Word of the Father; to believe in the Father is to believe in the Son; the two are not only interchangeable, they are inseparable, indivisible.

Do we realize that it is the word of the Son that people need to hear and believe in to pass from death to life? That is, when we preach on Sundays and witness on Mondays do we strive to present the word of Jesus? Do we see ourselves on the stage of eternity? Are we conscious that the word of Jesus has the power to draw men and women to Him, as opposed to our own word? If I want to simply make someone’s day a little better or brighter I might say any number of kind things, but if I want to influence someone for eternity it had better be the word of Jesus that I speak and live.

The “word” of Jesus is more than a recitation of the “words” that Jesus spoke, it is living in Jesus Christ and having Christ as our source of life, our center of gravity, our all in all. It is living out of Jesus Christ the way that Jesus Christ lives out of the Father. The Gospel is not a collection of words by which we argue with people or batter people; the Gospel is not a message of morals and ethics; the Gospel is a Person and the word of the Gospel flows from that Person and has that Person, Jesus Christ, as its unwavering focal point.