Last week, we started working our way through John 5. In this chapter, AJ addresses two common Judean criticisms of Jesus. The first, is that Jesus is a lawbreaker-- a sinner. Jesus broke the Sabbath, and taught others to do the same. The second, is that Jesus "makes himself" equal to God.
Jesus' response to this was a little complicated. But the bottom line is that Jesus is a faithful, obedient son to his Father. His Father sent him, and Jesus went. His Father gave him the keys to life and judgment, because the Father loves him, and Jesus uses those keys exactly as his Father wants. Jesus doesn't do his own will; in everything, he does his Father's will.
The question each of us has to answer, is whether or not we accept Jesus' defense of who he is, and what he came to do. We find ourselves having only two choices when it comes to Jesus. Either Jesus is a lawbreaker, destined to be judged by God. Or, Jesus is sent from God, and the only way to God.
Crazy, right? How can this be our choice?
Maybe you find yourself drawn to Jesus. You see him giving life to people, and offering people eternal life. You feel like there's something there-- like Jesus is who he says he is, or that he might be. But you look around you, and so many people refuse to come to Jesus. And the Judeans, who should receive him-- almost all reject him.
At Billy Graham crusades, they used to put volunteers in the crowd. And when Graham gave his altar call, and invited people to the front, the volunteers would rise up and lead the way to the front. People who had heard Graham speak would see the volunteers streaming down to the front, and they'd feel the pull of that stream. They'd hear the gospel; they see others that they thought were coming to Jesus; and they'd join.
But what if no one goes first? What if streams of people, after hearing the call, walk away. Or what if they rise up, and condemn the testimony as deeply flawed, and the speaker, as heretical?
You find yourself a little stuck. You know you have to make a decision, one way or another. You can't hear Jesus' claims, and not make a choice. But what do you pick? Who do you pick?
Jesus, who can look inside of everyone, and knows their hearts, knows that you need reasons to come all the way to him, and receive him, and give your allegiance to him.
What you need, is a firm basis for coming to Jesus. Imagine that all of this is like a court case. Jesus is on the defense. You need evidence, that he is who he says he is.
And what's the best evidence? In any court case, the best evidence is witnesses. People's testimony about Jesus (H/T Andrew Lincoln, Truth on Trial. Not the safest book, or author, for evangelicals. But helpful.)
In the rest of chapter 5, Jesus offers us five witnesses (scholars divide all this differently, as 3, 4, or 5 witnesses. But content wise, this is not a tricky passage), that testify to the truth about him.
Verse 31:
(31) If I testify about myself, my testimony isn't true.
Jesus knows that he can't simply testify about himself, and prove anything. Anyone can claim to be anyone, but their testimony means nothing.
(1) Witness #1: John the Baptist
And so, in verses 32-35, Jesus calls his first witness-- John the Baptist:
(32) Another, the one testifying about me is,
and I know that, true, the testimony which he testifies about me is. [debated here-- John the Baptist, or God, is the "another"]
(33) You have sent to(ward) John,
and he has testified to the truth.
(34) Now, I don't, from (a) man, testimony receive,
but these things I say,
in order that you may/shall be saved.
(35) That one was the lamp-- the one burning and shining.
Now, you wanted to rejoice for an hour in his light.
The Judeans all believed that John the Baptist was sent by God. Who John the Baptist was, is beyond dispute.
No one wondered if he was a terrible sinner, or someone who "made himself equal to God." The Judeans sent to John, and received his testimony. And they were grateful for John-- they rejoiced in his light.
And who did John the Baptist say he was? John was the one sent by God, to point people to Jesus.
Now, Jesus makes it clear that he doesn't need John's testimony. It does nothing for him-- it doesn't help him understand who he is. He doesn't view this as a vindication of his ministry. He talks about John as a concession to them-- he knows that you need some evidence to be persuaded. And what Jesus wants, at the end of the day, is for you to be saved. So he will give you that evidence.
(2) Witness #2: Jesus' works
Verse 36:
(36) Now, I have a testimony greater than John.
For the works that He gave to me-- the Father--,
(in order) that I would complete them--
the works themselves that I am doing testify about me,
that the Father, me, he has sent,
Let's stop, and think about the paralyzed man by the pool. Who is able to simply give that man life? Who can touch him, or speak a word, and make it so he can walk? How is that even possible?
These works are only possible for someone who is sent by God, and empowered by God. The works themselves bear witness, that Jesus has to be from God.
I say this, but many people who identify as Christians are embarrassed by miracles/signs. And many people who aren't Christians, view these descriptions of miracles with disbelief.
There are scholars who have made it their life work to determine the "historical Jesus." They go through the gospels, and they strip out the parts of them that we modern people know are ridiculous. They know that miracles are impossible, and so they talk about how they are later embellishments of what Jesus did. They're like legends that spring up after someone dies-- like King Arthur. Or they'll come up with some bogus psychological explanation. Maybe the man was paralyzed for 38 years because of some psychological damage he'd suffered. But actually, he could walk.
Let me read something from J.C. Ryle (https://www.gracegems.org/Ryle/j05.htm ):
The miracles of the Lord receive far less attention, in the present day, as proofs of His Divine mission, than they ought to do. Too many regard them with a silent incredulity, as things which, not having seen, they cannot be expected to care for. Not a few openly avow that they do not believe in the possibility of such things as miracles, and would like to strike them out of the Bible as weak stories, which, like burdensome lumber, should be cast overboard, to lighten the ship.
But, after all, there is no getting over the fact, that in the days when our Lord was upon earth, His miracles produced an immense effect on the minds of men. They aroused attention to Him who worked them. They excited inquiry, if they did not convert. They were so many, so public, and so incapable of being explained away, that our Lord's enemies could only say that they were done by satanic agency. That they were done, they could not deny. "This man," they said, "does many miracles." (John 11:47.) The facts which wise men pretend to deny now, no one pretended to deny eighteen hundred years ago.
Let the enemies of the Bible take our Lord's last and greatest miracle. His own resurrection from the dead and disprove it if they can. When they have done that, it will be time to consider what they say about miracles in general. They have never answered the evidence of it yet, and they never will. Let the friends of the Bible not be moved by objections against miracles, until that one miracle has been fairly disposed of. If that is proved unassailable, they need not care much for quibbling arguments against other miracles. If Christ did really rise from the dead by His own power, there is none of His mighty works which man need hesitate to believe.
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Some of you, perhaps, would be more comfortable with Jesus, if he claimed less. You'd like Christianity better, if you didn't have to explain away the miracles. But Jesus had life in himself-- because the Father gave it to him-- and he could give that life to whoever he wished.
And the fact that Jesus gave physical healing is evidence of two things: that Jesus can give divine/eternal life, and that Jesus is who he says he is.
Healings, and signs, and wonders, are a powerful witness to who Jesus is.
(3) Witness #3: The Father
Verse 37-38:
(37) and The One Sending me-- the Father-- That One has testified about me.
Neither his voice ever you have heard,
nor his form you have seen,
and his word(/Word?) you don't have in you abiding,
because the one whom he sent-- that one-- to this one you don't "believe"/give allegiance.
The third witness Jesus calls, in his defense, is the Father. But this witness, isn't a witness the Judeans are able to hear. And this, is super harsh. The Judeans don't know anything about the Father-- they don't recognize his voice. They've never seen his form (God has a "form," not a "body"). They don't have God's word abiding in them (Psalm 119:11).
How can all of this be true of Judeans-- the people of the covenant? God's special possession?
Picture a king sending his chosen representative-- a diplomat of some sort-- to a neighboring country. That diplomat is empowered to speak on the king's behalf. And however you receive that diplomat, is how you receive that king. Honor him, and you honor the king. Dishonor him, and you dishonor the king.
Jesus is God's "sent one." If you refuse to receive Jesus, and trust his words, and give your allegiance to him, then you are also rejecting the Father.
So the Father is Witness #3, but the Judeans are not at a place, spiritually, where they are able to hear or accept His witness. And the reason for that, is because they've rejected the one God sent-- Jesus Christ.
And so here, we find that Jesus begin to flip the table on the Judeans. Who is it, exactly, who is a sinner? Who, exactly, is disloyal to God?
Witness #4: The Scriptures
Verses 39-44:
(39) Investigate the scriptures,
because you think in them, eternal life to have,
and those ones are the ones testifying about me,
and you don't want to come toward me,
so that life you would/shall have.
(41) Glory from people I don't receive,
but I know you,
that the love of God you don't have in yourselves.
(43) I have come in the name of my Father,
and you don't receive me.
(44) How are you able to give allegiance,
glory from one another receiving,
and the glory-- the one from the only God-- you don't seek?
If you search the Scriptures-- the OT-- you will find that they point directly to Jesus. They testify about him.
What keeps them from doing this? Judeans have always been a "people of the book," supposedly. Why don't they investigate it?
Jesus says, the reason is, that they don't love God. They don't seek the glory that God gives. Instead, they seek a cheap substitute-- they seek the praise and glory that come from people.
Jesus' language here about "seeking the glory that comes from God" isn't something that's taught very often in churches, at least that I remember. So let me try to unpack this a little.
Let's turn to Romans 2:5-8:
Now, in accordance with your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up for yourselves on the day of wrath and of the righteous judgment of God,
who will repay to each one according to his works--
on the one hand, to the ones by endurance/perseverance of good work, glory and honor and immortality seeking, eternal life;
on the other hand, to the ones from selfish ambition and disobedient to the truth--
now, obeying unrighteousness-- affliction and distress, for every soul/life of a man working evil-- both for
the Jew first, and for the Greek;
(10) now, glory and honor and peace to everyone working the good-- to the Jew first, and the Greek.
(11) For there is no partiality with God.
(12) For as many without the law sinned, without the law also they will perish,
and as many in the law sinned, through the law will be judged.
(13) For the hearers of the law aren't righteous with God,
but the ones doing the law will be made right.
There is a glory and honor and immortality and peace held out for you, as a future possibility. What we have now through God is amazing-- and someday, it can be even better. There is a "now and later" to Christianity.
If you want the "later", what do you have to do? Paul says, persevere in "working the good." "Do the law" by "fulfilling the law" (Romans 8:3-4).
And, turning back to John 5, if you want the glory that God gives, what do you have to do?
You have to stop seeking the glory and praise that comes from people. You have to stop worrying about what people think of you, and start worrying about what God thinks of you. You have to come to Jesus, and accept the persecution that may follow.
Returning to the Billy Graham example-- you have to walk down the aisle toward Jesus, and not care what other people say about you, or about him.
(5) Witness #5: Moses
Verses 45-47:
(45) Don't think that I will accuse you before the Father.
The one accusing you is Moses, toward whom you have put your hope.
For if you "believed/gave allegiance" toward Moses, you would believe/give allegiance toward me.
For about me, that one wrote.
(47) Now, if in/to that one's writings you don't believe/give allegiance, how in/to my words will you believe/give allegiance?
The Judeans want to see themselves as faithful followers of Moses, and his words. They are the keepers of the covenant. And they think, in doing this, that they will receive life.
But Jesus says, if they really believed Moses' words, and committed themselves to him, they would believe Jesus' words, and commit to him as well. Moses pointed to Jesus. And Jesus offers a better grace-- a grace "in place of" the grace. Why would you not accept the superior gift?
And Jesus ends his words with this haunting question. If they didn't believe Moses, how will they ever believe Jesus, who has an even greater testimony?
And the answer the book gives, is that they can't. And they won't. Judeans are wicked. They care about what people think of them, instead of God. They don't love God; they don't take God's word seriously. And Moses himself will be their accuser, on the day when they are in court, defending themselves.
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So who is the sinner? And who is the one who is committed to doing God's will? Is it Jesus? Or is it the Judeans? You have to consider the testimonies you've seen, and heard. You have to decide for yourself--who is committed to doing God's will? And, whatever decision you make, understand that there are consequences. Give your allegiance to Jesus, and you will be misunderstood, and persecuted, just like Jesus was.
But understand, there are five witnesses that testify on Jesus' behalf. These five witnesses are rock solid, reliable, trustworthy-- witnesses that everyone in the first century would accept as more than valid:
(1) John the Baptist, the lamp, the one sent by God to point to Jesus.
(2) The signs/works that God the Father gave Jesus to do.
(3) God the Father himself.
(4) The OT.
(5) Moses.
Judeans who reject these five witnesses do so out of willful disbelief-- out of hardheartedness. It's a deliberate refusal to accept the truth, and come to Jesus. Will you follow them? Or will you follow Jesus?
Translation:
(30) I'm not able to do from myself anything.
Just as I hear, I judge,
and my judgment, right(eous) it is,
because I don't seek my will,
but the will of The One Sending me.
(31) If I testify about myself, my testimony isn't true.
(32) Another, the one testifying about me is,
and I know that, true, the testimony which he testifies about me is.
(33) You have sent to(ward) John,
and he has testified to the truth.
(34) Now, I don't, from (a) man, testimony receive,
but these things I say,
in order that you may/shall be saved.
(35) That one was the lamp-- the one burning and shining.
Now, you wanted to rejoice for an hour in his light.
(36) Now, I have a testimony greater than John.
For the works that He gave to me-- the Father--,
(in order) that I would complete them--
the works themselves that I am doing testify about me,
that the Father, me, he has sent,
(37) and The One Sending me-- the Father-- That One has testified about me.
Neither his voice ever you have heard,
nor his form you have seen,
and his word(/Word?) you don't have in you abiding,
because the one whom he sent-- that one-- to this one you don't "believe"/give allegiance.
(39) Investigate the scriptures,
because you think in them, eternal life to have,
and those ones are the ones testifying about me,
and you don't want to come toward me,
so that life you would/shall have.
(41) Glory from people I don't receive,
but I know you,
that the love of God you don't have in yourselves.
(43) I have come in the name of my Father,
and you don't receive me.
(44) How are you able to give allegiance,
glory from one another receiving,
and the glory-- the one from the only God-- you don't seek?
(45) Don't think that I will accuse you before the Father.
The one accusing you is Moses, toward whom you have put your hope.
For if you "believed/gave allegiance" toward Moses, you would believe/give allegiance toward me.
For about me, that one wrote.
(47) Now, if to/in that one's writings you don't believe/give allegiance, how to/in my words will you believe/give allegiance?
