John 5:25

25, 28. ἀκούσουσιν. We cannot determine with certainty between this form (John 16:13?) and ἀκούσονται: ἀκούσομαι is the more common future in N.T. On ζήσουσιν (John 5:25) see on John 6:57.

25. Repetition of John 5:24 in a more definite form, with a cheering addition: John 5:24 says that whoever hears and believes God has eternal life; John 5:25 states that already some are in this happy case.

ἔρχ. ὥρα. There cometh an hour: comp. John 4:21; John 4:23.

καὶ νῦν ἐστιν. These words also exclude the meaning of a bodily resurrection; the hour for which had not yet arrived. The few cases in which Christ raised the dead cannot be meant; (1) the statement evidently has a much wider range; (2) the widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter, and Lazarus were not yet dead, so that even of them ‘and now is’ would not be true; (3) they died again after their return from death, and ‘they that hear shall live’ clearly refers to eternal life, as a comparison with John 5:24 shews. If a spiritual resurrection be understood, ‘and now is’ is perfectly intelligible: Christ’s ministry was already winning souls from spiritual death.