Truly, Truly! – Hearing and Believing
Truly, Truly! – Hearing and Believing.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24).
There is a much-used Hebrew word in the Hebrew Bible that points to its root word “truth.” The Greek in the New Testament also picked it up and used it for “truth” as well. That common Hebrew word is “amen.”
Amen. This biblical word basically means: This is truth! I agree that this is true! Yes! We heartily accept and approve of what was said! We are assured that this is certainly true! So be it! We believe this is trustworthy and we take it to heart!
Amen! Amen! is often translated as Truly, Truly, or Verily, Verily in the New Testament. This double Amen is only recorded in the gospel of John, and is said by Jesus before He offers a statement, not after. He is the only Person to say this, because He is the only Person who has the authority to say this before He says it. This double Amen, as opposed to a single Amen, must be an important distinction for Jesus, because He felt compelled to use this preface twenty-five times in John. When Jesus begins a statement with that double “Truly,” He is intending to be doubly intense when He says it, and so He wants the listener to be doubly attentive. He wants to emphasize the importance of His words. He is saying, In all truth I tell you. He wants the listener to focus, and He is serious about preparing the listener to be receptive. When Jesus says Truly, Truly, He is saying: Most assuredly, what I am about to tell you is absolutely true and trustworthy. So listen up, because an eternal truth is coming to you now. In all sincerity, says Jesus, this is the solemn truth. Take these words in, says Jesus, and have them go into your mind and then straight to your heart. For these words of mine are double truth, they are doubly true. Jesus might as well have been saying… And you readers out there centuries from now, get ready to apply your hot pink highlighter, get ready to do some double underlining! Truly, Truly, what you are about to hear is the honest to goodness truth. This is True! Really True!
Hear. “akouo” = to hear and respond; to listen and obey; to understand and cooperate; to comprehend and comply; to give an ear to and then act on it; to prove something was heard and taken seriously by responding to it.
Believe. “pisteno” = (from root word for faith, “pistis”); to trust something enough to cling to it; to be convinced of something enough to rely on it; to be persuaded of the truth of something enough to commit your life to it; to place full confidence in something that seems entirely trustworthy; to embrace something that has proven to be true and worthy of belief; to adhere to something after a strong conviction.
A reasonable paraphrase of this verse by Steve Larson: “And Jesus tells His listeners... In all sincerity, people, what I am about to tell you is God’s honest truth, a truth that is worthy of your trust. Anyone here who has been all ears and truly listened to My message with the intention of responding with obedience; anyone here who trusts in what I say and believes that My message came from My Father in heaven; anyone here who is prepared to live out their trust by sticking like glue to the Father and Me, the Son; anyone here who has now become an active listener and a confident believer, I guarantee you will enjoy eternal life, starting right now. By following Me, you will pass from death into life, from spiritual death to resurrection life, from this moment on. On the Day of Judgment you will not face condemnation, but on that day will cross over from physical death to eternal life, from a life with my absence to a life full of my presence where I will forever be present with you.”