Hearing and Believing His Word

Background Scripture: John 5:24-47
Lesson Scripture: John 5:24-32

Introduction

“Seeing is believing,” we often say. What about hearing and believing? We pause at believing everything we hear, and rightfully we should be cautious, for there is a deceiver who wishes to lead us astray. How will we discern what to believe? This lesson strikes at the heart of what it means to hear the Word of Life and to trust it, thereby gaining eternal life.

Key Verse

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Rom. 10:9).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

These verses follow the healing of a man who had lain waiting for healing by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years. Because this miracle happened on the Sabbath, there was anger against Jesus for commanding a man to supposedly work on the Sabbath. The words of Jesus recorded here were directed to these upset people.

These people were Jews, broadly including all who practiced the Jewish religion. The nation as a whole keenly followed what they thought Moses had commanded them, to the point of taking offense at one of their own violating these laws. They wanted to kill Jesus because He not only caused a man to supposedly work on the Sabbath but also said God was his Father, thereby making Himself equal with God.

Jesus emphasized the verity of what He was telling them. Verily in today’s language would be “truthfully, as a matter of fact.” The word translated as verily is “amen” in its original form. Amen is used to affirm faithfulness or truth in declaration by saying, “Let it be so.” Jesus used this three times in this fifth chapter of John.

Jesus challenged their understanding of who He was by telling them they should hear his words and believe they were from God. If they would hear and believe, they could avert being judged as guilty for their sins and have their sentence of death removed. It was the just punishment for what they had done, and since only God had this power to thus judge, Jesus made it clear that He was the Son of God. Here was the test—would they hear and believe?

Jesus went on to outline that hearing the Son of God would result in redemption. This would be through the authority God gave Him, and Jesus made it clear this authority was for the present time. Because of the authority God vested in Him to execute the judgment and atonement for sin, Jesus could declare the law satisfied. Being told they were spiritually dead and needing to be brought to life was contrary to how the Jews viewed their relationship with God. They relied on being the chosen people and counted themselves accepted because of their lineage and their adherence to the law. Jesus’s revelation of truth shocked and angered his hearers. Their religious effort would never gain them a right standing with God. Hearing Jesus and believing God sent Him for our salvation gains us eternal life and opens the way to heaven.

To marvel means to be filled with surprise, wonder, or amazed curiosity, or to feel astonishment or perplexity. Skepticism surrounding the resurrection will greatly hinder belief in Jesus. He plainly teaches there will be a resurrection from the grave. Some will inherit life, and some damnation; good and evil will be judged by God through Jesus. He said He has that authority, given Him by God. His judgment will not be from Himself, but He will uphold God’s standard of righteousness.

Truth, judgment, hearing, and witness are legal terms. Judges and juries hear testimonies from witnesses and must determine truth. People will often only tell their side of an issue, leaving some information unsaid. This kind of testimony is not strictly truth. Jesus reminded his listeners it is not only an individual’s testimony but also another’s corroboration that verifies the truth. In Jesus’s case, God was testifying on Jesus’s behalf by the power He gave his Son to work miracles. Healing the impotent man at the waters of Bethesda was not a man’s power, or the impotent man could have been healed years before. Instead of seeing the truth in front of them, the Jews were upset by an inconsequential transgression of Moses’s law.

Practical Truths for Today

Today, we are surprised at the altercation made over healing on the Sabbath. We are familiar with the doctrine of Jesus’s atonement for our sins, and it does not offend us. We pride ourselves in understanding we are saved by faith and not our own works of righteousness. Many have heard this from a young age and consider it a settled truth.

What if, however, we grew up without hearing that teaching? Would we view our place in the world or understand God differently? We look on the outside and judge by what we see. If a person is kind and tries to do right, is that not a good mark? Without the gospel to shape our understanding of sin and atonement, we might also try to work for our atonement. Satan might say, “The balance of good and evil in your life is toward good. More good than evil makes you good.”

However, the Scriptures tell the truth: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Sin earns us death: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). The remedy is not doing better; sin’s stain remains along with its resulting sentence of death. The remedy for sin is hearing Jesus’s words of judgment and believing that God sent Him to save us from our sin.

In believing, we pass from death to life. Most of our life experience is exactly the opposite—all living things move toward dying. Because of this first-hand experience we are so well acquainted with, it takes an act of our will to believe. We will need to accept that God does things in ways we cannot comprehend for reasons we won’t understand.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). John declares this Word was light and life. Jesus, as the Word, is accomplishing the work of his Father from before the creation. He shines light into our lives, showing the path to salvation and giving light to allow us to walk in his ways. The light also illuminates the things that must change. In the work of salvation, God initially clothes us with his righteousness, but He doesn’t leave us there. The process of sanctification, which is being purified and refined, follows. We are not alone in the battle against sin. The living Word continually points us to our needs and Christ’s sufficiency, helping us to choose God’s righteousness.

This work is of the Holy Spirit; the law cannot accomplish it. It took Jesus’s power to heal the impotent man. Because the law condemns and judges sin, we know what it is. The law points to salvation but cannot provide a remedy that saves the soul. The law helps us recognize sin but is not able to remove it. The power to remove sin’s guilt and power comes from the Redeemer, who buys our life back from the corruption of sin. In this way, we pass from death unto life.

Those who live in this newness of life and walk in sanctification, will one day resurrect from the grave unto eternal life. The choice to hear and believe is made in this life and will shape our eternal destiny. By choosing to believe and hear the Word, we choose life.

Illustration

A young person experiences some shortness of breath. Because they have been healthy all their life, they ignore it. Gradually, over time, other symptoms appear that are harder to ignore—tiredness, coldness of the extremities, fingers turning blue. Alarmed by the worsening symptoms, a doctor is consulted. They are referred to a specialist. After many tests, the diagnosis is a disease of the heart. The heart muscle is slowly weakening, resulting in the symptoms. The specialist has medicines that can help. Exercises can help strengthen the heart. Some activities need to be curtailed. All of these can slow, but not stop, the progression of the disease. In the end, only a heart transplant can stop the disease.

Shocked, the young person leaves the specialist’s office. It was hard to listen to the diagnosis, and questions fill their mind. What if I was misdiagnosed? Should I even listen to this specialist? What about a second opinion? All of this seems so unlikely; friends and acquaintances have never heard of anyone with this before. So, ignoring the symptoms and afraid of a confirming diagnosis, they try to continue their life as normal, but the symptoms continue to worsen.

Finally, admitting that refusing to hear the advice of doctors wasn’t working, they submitted to the never-ending rounds of therapy, medicine, and restrictions in activities. A slower decline occurred, but it became obvious that soon a heart transplant would be necessary to sustain life. Someone who donated a heart would have to die for this young person to live. It was humbling to wait for a chance that may never come, but in the end it was the only option.

Finally, the call came. A new heart! Many days later, after the surgery was successful, they could say it was worth it all. A near-normal life waited with less life-limiting symptoms.

Refusing to hear nearly ended the life of this young person. Hearing led to believing the truth of the diagnosis and the need for treatment. Is it so different when we speak of the spiritual heart? We do not want to be diagnosed as a sinner and would rather ignore the message of something being wrong with our hearts, but by ignoring this important message, we forfeit an opportunity for a new life without the handicap of a corrupted heart. It becomes an occasion for being lost instead of an opportunity to be saved.

“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19). A spiritual operation that saves the lives of the hearers is what Jesus offers. Jesus’s message didn’t conform to the expectations and customs of the Jews, and even today, it is still a radical departure from many people’s expectations. The message of salvation still provokes anger and frustration in the hearts of the selfish and unwilling.

Christians whose lives are changed are the evidence of a belief that works. It falls to us to accept and live out the salvation we proclaim. It may be the only thing the world will hear.

Questions

1. The physical sense of hearing can be impaired; can spiritual hearing be impaired by spiritual disease?
2. How does one choose to believe?
3. Discuss: Learning to hear and believe early on in Christian living will tend toward future blessing and success.
4. How should we use the word amen today? Is there a deeper meaning that we are missing?

Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).