Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
Jesus had just healed a man at the pool of Bethsaida, but He did this healing on the Sabbath. The Jews had so misinterpreted the Law of Moses about the Sabbath day that they considered the miracles that Jesus carried out on the Sabbath, violated their strict rules. When the man that had been healed obeyed Christ’s instruction and picked up his bed to carry it home, it was construed as work, and they accused Jesus of violating their laws. But Jesus replied, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” This response infuriated the Jews, for they knew that Jesus was making Himself equal with Almighty God. For that reason, they “sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” Following this accusation, Jesus taught His disciples all about His unique relationship with God the Father. He explained the mutual love they have for each other. He explained that His whole life was to do the will of the Father and to carry it out in the power of the Spirit so as to please the Father, by only saying and doing the things that He heard from the Father. Jesus finally summed up this important teaching that spelt out the clear message of His eternal deity before saying: “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” Jesus had simply explained the gospel that we read in John chapter 3: “That whosoever believes on Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” He was just stating what the Philippian jailer would hear: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” And what Paul would teach in Romans 8: “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” Faith comes by hearing and so the more we hear the gospel, the more it becomes a part of our being and the more we truly trust the Word of God. If we believe “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” then we have heard His Word, believed the Father Who sent Him, and “are given eternal life, and will not come under judgment but have passed from death to life.”
Spiritual Steve 