NOTES for Joh 5:17-30
It is striking how differently we can perceive what we read, how differently we “hear.” Perception would seem to depend on the time of day, the reader’s physical condition (quite simply, whether or not one has had enough sleep), and the desire to receive information. Yet there is One in this world who can turn everything, including hindrances, to good (see Rom 8:28). In verse 24 Jesus speaks astonishing words. But even these words can be heard in different ways. Sometimes, by God’s grace, something flares up within us in response to what we have read. He grants this either when we ask for such hearing or when He Himself very much needs us to hear. This is probably the attentive listening and response to His word of which Jesus speaks—not something achieved by our human strength alone. It is no accident that He repeatedly said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” (Matt 11:15). Who, then, does not have these ears? Yet only the Lord can open them. So let us ask God for the gift of hearing, so that the words “whoever hears My word” may apply to us.