Church Fathers Commentary John 5:24

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life." — John 5:24 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: Having said that the Son gives life to whom He will, He next shows that we attain life through the Son: Verily, verily, I say to you, He that hears My word, and believes in Him that sent Me, has everlasting life.

St. Augustine of Hippo: If eternal life is in hearing and believing, how much more is it in understanding? But faith is the first step of our piety; the fruit of faith is understanding. He does not say, "Believe in Me," but "in Him that sent Me." Why is one to hear His word, and yet believe in another? Is it not because He means to say, "His word is in Me"? And what does "Hears My word" mean, if not "hears Me"? And when He says, "Believe in Him that sent Me," it is as if to say, "He who believes in the Father believes in His Word"—that is, in Me, because I am the Word of the Father.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, He did not say, "He who hears My words and believes in Me," because they would have considered this to be empty boasting and arrogance. Saying, "Believe in Him that sent Me," was a better way to make His discourse acceptable. To this end, He says two things: first, that he who hears Him believes in the Father; and second, that he who hears and believes will not come into condemnation.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But who is this favored person? Will there be anyone better than the Apostle Paul, who says, We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ? Now, "judgment" sometimes means punishment and sometimes trial. In the sense of a trial, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. But in the sense of condemnation, we read that some "shall not come into judgment"—that is, they will not be condemned.

It follows, but has passed from death into life. This does not mean "is now passing," but "has already passed"—from the death of unbelief into the life of faith, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. Perhaps this is said to prevent us from supposing that faith will save us from bodily death, which is the penalty we must pay for Adam’s transgression. Adam, in whom we all then existed, heard the divine sentence, You shall surely die (Genesis 2:17), and we cannot evade it.

But when we have suffered the death of the old man, we will receive the life of the new, and through death, we will make a passage to life. But to what life? To everlasting life. The dead will rise again at the end of the world and enter into everlasting life, for this present life does not deserve the name of life; only that life which is eternal is true life.

We see that those who love this present, transitory life are so intent on its well-being that when they are in danger of death, they will use any means to delay its approach, even though they cannot hope to prevent it altogether. If, then, so much care and labor is spent on gaining a little more time in this life, how much more should we strive for eternal life? And if those are considered wise who try in every way to postpone death, even though they can only live a few more days, how foolish are those who live in such a way that they lose the eternal day?