Reading of God’s Word

John 5:31–47 (ESV)

31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Introduction

I had an interesting conversation with a man this past week. He was in my home trying to sell me something and he soon asked, so what do you do for a living? I said, I’m a Pastor. He looked surprised and said, I would have never guessed that! I responded, well, I’m not exactly sure how to take that… (He was actually the second person in two weeks to say that to me – I’m thinking it’s the beard). But we ended up talking about Christ for some time. I would guess that an hour of the the hour and a half that he was in my home was devoted to conversation about Christ – it was really quite a nice conversation.

This man said that he had been studying the scriptures. His wife is a Jehovah’s Witness. And so the conversation eventually came to center upon the person of Jesus Christ as I asked the question, who is he? 

As you know Christians disagree with the Jehovah’s Witnesses on a number of points, but their view of the person of Christ seems to be most at odds with biblical Christianity, and therefore it is one of the easiest things to discuss in a relatively short period of time.

To state things briefly, this man seemed to be struggling with two things in particular.

One, he could not understand how the man Jesus Christ could be one with God the Father.

I emphasized two things in response to this. One, the fact that there were two natures – the divine and the human – united in the one person of Christ is difficult for anyone to comprehend – one should not deny a biblical doctrine because it hard for the human mind to comprehend.  Two, I emphasized the fact that the scriptures clearly teach this. The Father and the Son, though distinct in some way, are in fact one. They are of one essence – one substance.

We looked at John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1, ESV). We looked at it in the Greek text and compared it with his New World Translation, in which the Jehovah’s Witnesses have altered the wording to make room for their unorthodox doctrine.

I aslo alluded to John 14:9-11where Jesus speaks to Phillip, saying,

“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:9–11, ESV)

We also spoke of the fact that the scriptures everywhere insist that there is only one God – not two, or three, or more.

I came across Mark 12:28-31 in my scripture reading this past week. It is that famous passage where the scribe asks Jesus what the most important commandment is. You and I know that Jesus emphasizes two things – the command to love God, and the command to love your neighbor as yourself. But what caught my attention is how Christ presents the command to love God. He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4 saying, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength…” (Mark 12:29–30, ESV)

The point that I tried to make with him then, and the point I am making now, is that Jesus, though he certainly claimed to be God, was dogmatically monotheistic. He claimed to be God – divine – and yet according to him there was and is and will only ever be one God.  Therefore we have one God eternally existing in three subsistences or persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This has been the confession of the Church throughout the ages. The Nicene Creed, which I read to you last week, was penned, in part, to combat the heresy of Arianism. It’s worth noting that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are really nothing more than a modern resurgence of the Arian heresy when it comes to the doctrine of Christ.

The Jehovah’s Witness view of Christ can be summarized in this way:  

1. Jesus is to be called “a god” and not God. Thus, Jehovah’s Witnesses translate John 1: 1 “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”
2. While Jesus is worthy of honor, he is not to be worshiped. 
3. Jesus is a created being. He is not eternal in his preexistence but rather was created by Jehovah as Michael the Archangel.
4. Jesus did not rise physically from the grave. Rather, Jehovah raised his spirit from death and then provided another body for his appearances to his disciples. 
5. The second coming of Jesus took place in 1914, when Jesus returned invisibly to Earth.[SLIDE]

It’s no wonder this man was struggling to come to terms with the Biblical doctrine of the divinity of Christ, and with the Trinity with all of this in his background.

But remember that I said he was struggling with two things. The first was the deity of Christ. But I think there was deeper issue – a more foundational issue. He was struggling to know where to look to find answers to these questions. He was struggling with the question of authority.

This came up again and again. In his mind you have all of these opinions – all of these interpretations – and who are we to believe? Who is correct?

It was evident that this man was swimming in sea of subjectivity, and was struggling to stay afloat. It was a reminder that this world is a very uncertain and confusing place for those who have bought into the philosophy of relativism, that there is no truth, that it cannot be found. 

My response to this was simple. I said that we, as Christians, believe that God is our authority for truth, and that he has revealed himself in many way, but supremely through Christ his Son, and through his Holy Word.

We have something objective – something concrete and sure to set our feet upon. We believe that truth can be known, but only because God has determined to make it known through the person of Jesus Christ and through the pages of inspired scripture, Old and New Testaments.

It really was a good conversation. I learned a lot. I hope he learned something. I’ve been praying for him, that the Spirit of God would move upon his heart. I gave him a card and encouraged him to listen to sermons. Perhaps he will listen to this one. I also offered to meet with him to study the scriptures together. I am growing more convinced that evangelism in our modern time will need to be done like this – it needs to be personal, thorough, and methodical.

So why am I telling you about all of this now?

I tell you about this to make the point that John’s gospel is incredibly relevant for today.  The people that John was trying to pursued in the writing of his gospel were not altogether different from the people that you and I interact with today.

The question was the same then as now. Who is Jesus? How are we to understand his person and work? How are we to understand his relation to the Father?

The goal was the same then as now – that people would “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing… may have life in his name.” (John 20:31, ESV)

Notice something about the text before us this morning. Jesus (and John, as he wrote) understood that if people were to believe that he was indeed the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing may have life in his name, the issue of authority would need to be addressed.

What I mean is that it is one thing for Christ to claim that he was God incarnate – that he was God in the flesh. It’s another thing to provide credible evidence in support of this claim.

Says who? That is how people respond to the claims of Christ then and now. Says who? On who’s authority? Who are we to believe concerning these things? On who’s word?

Notice that this is precisely the issue that Jesus is dealing with here in this wonderful passage.

He admits in verse 31 that, “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.”

We are to think in legal terms here. A defendant’s testimony, if it stands alone, is not valid. It’s not credible. He may in fact be telling the truth, but his testimony is invalid – it carries little, if any, weight. Jesus is aware that if his word is to be accepted and recognized as true, others need to testify on his behalf.

In verse 32 he says, “There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.”

So there is another witness, Jesus says. There is someone who is testifying on my behalf, that I am indeed the Son of God. 

Some have been confused by this statement because Christ speaks of one witness here – “There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true”.  But then John goes on to mention three witnesses in the  proceeding text. He will talk about John the Baptist as a witness; the works that he was doing as a witness, and the scriptures themselves as a witness – three witnesses, not one. And yet he only mentions one witness in verse 32.

The meaning is this: God the Father is the one who testifies concerning the Son. God the Father is the witness that Jesus is referring to here. And yet God has spoken through the Baptist, through the works or signs, and through the Holy Scriptures themselves – though Moses.  That is what is said in verse 37 – “And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me…” (John 5:37a, ESV)

So to answer the critical question, says who? or, on who’s authority are we to accept the claims of Christ? The answer is that God the Father is authoritative. God the Father is the one who testifies that Jesus is indeed the eternal Son of God. He has done so through the Baptist, through the works of Christ, and through the scriptures themselves.

Let’s consider these one at a time:

First of all, Jesus urges us to believe in him because God the Father has testified concerning him through John the Baptist.

Verse 33: “You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man [ultimately], but I say these things so that you may be saved. He [John] was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” (John 5:33–35, ESV)

The testimony of John the Baptist might not seem that impressive to those of us who live almost 2,000 years removed from the event, but we should remember that John’s ministry was a powerful one. He gathered large crowds to himself. Many believed in his message and considered him a prophet.

Jesus is reminding these Jews of their willingness to except John’s word at first. He was a burning lamp, and they, for a time, took joy in walking in the light that he provided. The reminder that Jesus is providing is that John’s ministry culminated in his proclamation that Jesus was the Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John himself confessed that Jesus must increase and that he must decrease. John’s mission was to testify – to serve as a witness – that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.

 

Secondly, Jesus urges us to believe in him because God the Father testified concerning him through the works that he was preforming.

In verse 36 Jesus says, “But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” (John 5:36, ESV)

Jesus points to a greater and more powerful testimony than the testimony of John, namely, the works that he was doing. Jesus’ works were the works that the Father gave him to accomplish. The works – the signs – the miracles that he preformed served to testify or bear witness that Jesus was truly from the Father – he was from above.

These works were, and are, a most powerful testimony. It is one thing for one man to say concerning another, “behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, but it is another thing all together for that man to turn water to wine, to heal the lame and blind, to calm a stormy sea, to multiply a few loaves and fish to feed thousands, to call a man to life who was in the grave for three days, and to raise himself up from the dead.

These miracles of Christ served to testify that his words were true – that he was indeed the Christ, the eternal Son of God.

Thirdly, Jesus urges us to believe in him because God the Father has testified concerning him through the Holy Scriptures.

Verse 39: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…” (John 5:39, ESV)

Verse 45 and 46: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 5:45–46, ESV)

Jesus has identified John the Baptist as a witness; he has also identified the works that he was doing as a witness; here he points to Holy Scripture.

This, I think, is the most powerful testimony of the three. It is the most sound, objective, and concrete of the three. Scripture is timeless. It is immovable. It is sure. We are able to study it now just as they were able to study it then. And as we study it we see that it everywhere points to Jesus Christ.

And so, yes, John the Baptists testimony was powerful. Yes, it would have been wonderful to see the works of Christ. Both of these witness are indeed persuasive. But the scriptures are able to persuade us even still as they, from Genesis to Revelation, testify to Jesus the Christ the Son of God, and the salvation that is found in his name.

Think of it. The scriptures were written over a 1,500 year period of time. They were written by at least 40 different authors. There are 66 individual books, and yet they come together to tell one story. It is the story of redemption.

The scriptures tells us about creation – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…”. The scriptures tell us about the fall, man’s alienation from God, and just condemnation. But the scriptures also tell us the story of God redeeming love.

God promised to save. He promised to redeem. He promised to defeat the serpent and to conquer sin and death. He promised to establish his eternal kingdom, a kingdom where,

“…the dwelling place of God is with man. [where] He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3–4, ESV)

The Holy Scriptures are the inspired record of God’s redeeming acts. They are the record of God’s covenants and promises. The scriptures have Jesus Christ at the center – they all point to him. To borrow Paul’s language from 2 Corinthians 1:20, “…all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus]. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”

Jesus points people, ultimately, to the scriptures. The scriptures testify concerning him, that he is the Christ, the eternal Son of God.

This is, of course, most ironic when it comes to the Jews who opposed Jesus. It is ironic because they claimed to love the scriptures.  “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…” (John 5:39, ESV)

There were some (perhaps we can even say, many) in Jesus’ day who, though they read the scriptures, failed to read them correctly. There were some who, as they read the Old Testament, came to the conclusion that they would stand right before God because of their ethnicity. There were others who, as they read the Old Testament, came to the conclusion that they would stand right before God because of their morality. Christ and his apostles interpreted the Old Testament properly insisting that salvation is available, not on the basis of race, and not on the basis of law keeping, but through faith in the Christ, whom God promised to send from long ago – Jesus of Nazareth, the Eternal Son of God.

The Jewish people were particularly fond of Moses. Many had set their hope upon him, and upon their ability to keep the law given through him. And what does Jesus say concerning Moses? “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 5:45–46, ESV)

Jesus said this kind of thing again and again in his ministry. He insisted that he was the one to whom the scriptures pointed as the Messiah – as the Savior of the World.

Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17, ESV)

Jesus spoke to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, saying, “‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25–27, ESV)

So what does Jesus point to in the end? The scriptures! The scriptures bear witness concerning him!

And so Jesus has piled up three substantial witnesses on his side. All of them, he claims, are from the Father – John the Baptist, the works (miracles) that he preformed, and the Holy Scriptures themselves.

That is quite a collection! Jesus has a lot going for him. He has assembled quite a team! You would think that, with these witness stacked in Jesus’ corner, the Jews would soon believe.

But what is the result?

Verse 40:  “…yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:40, ESV)

They refuse to come. They refuse the offer of life found in his name?

This is our reaction to Jesus apart for the wooing of the Holy Spirit. We reject him. We refuse to come. Even with all of this testimony heaped up before us we, in our sinful condition, refuse to believe.

The question is why?

What is it about man that makes him so hostile to the things of God?

What is it that make us refuse to come to Christ that we might have life in his name?

Jesus identifies three things in this text. He levels three criticisms against those were persisting in their rejection of him. All of them point to the thoroughly depraved, and altogether hardened condition of their hearts.

First of all, Jesus points out that those rejecting him are persistent in their unwillingness to receive the word of God.

They stubbornly refused to receive, in their hearts, as it were, God’s word – God’s revelation.

Verse 37-38: Jesus says, “And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.” (John 5:37–38, ESV)

I don’t know that I could explain these two verses any better than Leon Morris has done:

“There ignorance is threefold. (i) They have never heard God’s voice. Moses heard that voice (Exod. 33:11), but they are no true followers of Moses, otherwise they would have heard God’s voice in Jesus (3:34; 17:8). (ii.) They have never seen God’s form. Israel saw that form (Gen 32:30-31), but they are no true Israelites. Were they, they would have seen God in Jesus (14:9). (iii.)They do not have God’s word abiding in them. The Psalmist laid up God’s word in his heart (Psalm 119:11), but they do not share his religious experience. Had they done so they would have receive that word from Jesus.”

There remained in these a hardness of heart, an unwillingness to receive God’s revelation.

Secondly, Jesus points out that those rejecting him do not have the love of God abiding in them.

Verse 42: “But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.” (John 5:42, ESV)

Thirdly, Jesus points out that those rejecting him are more concerned with living for the glory that comes from man than for the glory that comes from God.

Verses 43-44: “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (John 5:43–44, ESV)

These three indictments are significant.

They reveal that the reason why people remained in unbelief is not ultimately due to a lack of evidence concerning the Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It’s not as if these witnesses are insufficient, or their testimony unclear.

The issue is the human heart. People, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, are unwilling to receive God’s words. They do not love God as they ought. They do not seek to please him, but rather to please men so as to benefit themselves in regards to the things of this world.

Conclusion  

Let’s return briefly to my conversation with the salesman, by way of conclusion.

It was interesting that, in the course of conversation, three things emerged as significant hindrances to this man confessing Jesus as the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.

One, he seemed unwilling to look to the scriptures as authoritative. He was unwilling to confess them as inspired, inerrant, authoritative and clear.

Two,  there were things in his life that he was not willing to give up in order to follow Christ.

Three, he was concerned that if he were confess Christ as the eternal Son of God, he would jeopardize and perhaps loose his relationship with his wife and children.

By no means am I suggesting that these are easy things. I am simply pointing out that some things never change.

What about you? Are you willing willing to receive God’s word? Is the love of God in your heart, so much so that you would gladly loose all to possess him? And finally, are you living to please man or God?