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"He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5: 24).
Much is made of "hearing" in his gospel. The Samaritans said,
"Now we believe . . . . . for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed
the Christ, the Saviour of the world" (John 4: 42).
Hearing is a characteristic of His sheep:
"The sheep hear His voice." "The sheep did not hear them" (the thieves and robbers).
"Other sheep I have . . . . . they shall hear My voice."
"My sheep hear My voice" (John 10: 3, 8, 16, 27).
Moreover, hearing is a characteristic of
they that be "of God" (John 8: 47), and they that be "of the truth" (John 18: 37).
Some, by their very nature, cannot, and will not, hear.
"Ye have neither heard His voice, nor seen His shape" (John 5: 37).
Hearing is a test of discipleship.
"This is an hard saying, who can hear it?" (John 6: 60).
"From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him" (John 6:
66).
Inability to hear God's word is a mark of evil.
"Why do ye not understand My speech? even because ye cannot hear My word. Ye
are of your father the devil . . . . . when he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own . . . . . he
that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of
God" (John 8: 43-47).
In John 5: 24, 25, "hearing" His "word", and "hearing" His "voice", are intentional
parallels, and both are ways of speaking of him that "believe".
The "believing" here has a specific object:
"And believeth on Him that sent Me" (John 5: 24).
It is the insistent testimony of this gospel that Christ is the Sent One, this is
intertwined with all the truth that is revealed in it. There are twenty-eight occurrences of
pempo and seventeen of apostello (forty-five in all) that speak of Christ being "Sent".
Space is lacking here to list these and exhibit in any degree their message. We can only
say that the faith that receives everlasting life, comprehends the Father in the capacity of
the One Who sent the Son, a statement that is not only the legitimate inference of
John 5: 24, but the inspired declaration of I John 4: 14:
"The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."