A Persistent Witness
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Body
Body
In this passage Jesus continues his confrontation with the Jewish leaders regarding His true identity.
When you read John 5:30-47 there’s a word that shows up seven times in such a brief passage which should clue us in to what the text is primarily about. This is the verb “bear witness.”
In this next part of John’s gospel, Jesus appeals to three different witnesses, all of whom have born witness to his true identity as the Divine Messiah.
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 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.
Jesus begins by appealing to the testimony He has already provided, but with the caveat that He understands this would not hold up according to Jewish law.
Deuteronomy 19:15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.”
However the whole point of His previous testimony was that it doesn’t stand alone.
John 5:19
John 5:30
In other words, the testimony of Jesus was really the testimony of the Father because the Son can only do what He sees the Father do and can only say that which is in perfect accord with the Father’s mind and will.
The OT law was put in place because of how unreliable a human witness could prove to be on their own. But when it comes to Jesus we’re not dealing with a human witness from a fallen man. We’re dealing with the Son of God and His testimony is absolutely sure.
P1: Hear Jesus’ Own Testimony (vv. 30-32)
Presuppositional vs. Classical Apologetics
The problem is not a matter of convincing, it’s a matter of the will.
The problem is a 2 Cor 4:4 problem, a Romans 1:18 problem, an Ephesians 2:1-3 problem
Jesus has made it abundantly clear to all within earshot that He is God, the Son of God, the Messiah. He is the fulfilment of Daniel 7. He is the One they have been waiting for, and His testimony was in perfect harmony with the Father. So why wouldn’t they believe?
Why didn’t they believe when this descendent of David, of the tribe of Judah, born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem Ephrathah came onto the scene healing people, turning water to wine, and turning over tables in the temple courts?
It wasn’t for lack of proof but lack of will, and that requires a provision that can only come from the Father.
END P1
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.
The event Jesus was referring to here was recorded in John 1:19-27.
“he has borne witness to the truth.”
Perfect tense here can suggest a past completed action with ongoing results in the present.
“Biden was elected president last November.”
Sometimes this can be pressed too much, but I do feel it fits the intent of Jesus in this passage.
“Not that the testimony I receive is from man”
Jesus wasn’t appealing to John for the sake of His own confidence
There was no self-doubt in the Son of God about who He was
“Am I really who I think I am? I must be because John said so...”
“but I say these things to you so that you may be saved.”
John 1:29
John 1:35-37
“you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light”
John had created a buzz of excitement and messianic expectation
Luke 7:24-28
Matthew 3:5-7
But their fervor was short-lived
Like those of John 2:23-25, their faith was not fully authentic
John was the fulfillment of OT prophecy regarding one who would come to prepare the way for the Messiah. He would come to make straight the paths. He would be the forerunner of the long awaited deliverer. John was this one, and yet the Jews had missed it because they had missed another witness to Christ’s true identity, the witness of the Scriptures.
P2: Hear the Testimony of the Scriptures (vv. 33-35; 39-40)
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.
Jesus isn’t describing a casual perusal of God’s Word. This is a searching.
To search is to examine or to analyze
John 7:52
1 Corinthians 2:10
The reason why they search the Scriptures is even more tragic considering the present circumstances: “you think that in them you have eternal life.”
Psalm 119
Psalm 19:7-11
The reason it’s so tragic is because, “it is they that bear witness about [Him].”
A student of the Scriptures who isn’t led to Jesus hasn’t properly understood what they study.
These weren’t atheists or muslims or Hindus; they were the experts in the law.
They were closer to the Scriptures than anyone else in that day and yet, they had short-circuited God’s Word by failing to see that they pointed to JESUS.
God has not left us without voices. He gave us the Scriptures, and the Scriptures point us to JESUS.
Luke 24:25-27
John 5:39-40
John was one of those voices, sent from God, yet ignored by so many. Those who ignore him didn’t want the type of savior he was announcing. They didn’t want the Suffering Servant. They wanted the conquering king.
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?”
END P2
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.
“But” = even though you ignored and rejected John and missed the Scriptures, there’s another testimony to be considered
“the testimony that I have is greater than that of John.”
Luke 7:28
Based on Jesus’ own words from this verse, this claim to a greater testimony is quite significant.
“For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish...”
John 5:19
Picking up on what he had just talked about earlier in chapter 5
“the very works that I am doing, bear witness about m e that the Father has sent me.”
The Father/Son dynamic of the Trinity is something that can’t be missed by us simply due to our famliarity with the concept.
This was a massive theme in Jesus’ interaction with His opponents.
Carson: Once this Father/Son relationship is grasped, everything Jesus does simultaneously attests who he is and who the Father is.
YHWH had confirmed the authority of His prophets at different times in the past (Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Jonah). But it was never a relationship like the one Jesus claimed to have. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc., never claimed God as their Father or a unique relationship to Him as the Son. But Jesus did, and the Father has affirmed it.
P3: Hear the Father’s Testimony (vv. 36-38; 41-47)
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.
“And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me”
Not sure exactly what Jesus was referring to here (maybe baptism, but John does not record the baptism).
Probably more of a general statement of fact rather than an appeal to a specific instance.
But notice the escalation here :
If you won’t believe Me, and you won’t believe the Scriptures, maybe you will believe YWHW.
“His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you”
Triple indictment
As if Jesus is saying: “I’m not surprised you don’t get it.”
Moses heard from the Lord; Jacob saw the Lord; and Joshua internalized the law
You have the Son of God standing in front of you and you don’t understand.
“and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent”
We already addressed the rejection of Jesus, and now the connection is made between that rejection and the rejection of the Father’s testimony.
John 1:10-11
2 Peter 1:16-21
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?”
“I do not receive glory from people”
Jesus wasn’t interested in currying favor with men or putting himself out as the messiah they wanted.
“but..you do not have the love of God within you”
This is yet another indictment from Jesus as the the problem facing the Jews
They may profess a love for God, but their actions betray a different story
They wanted a messiah who would flatter them and bow to their agenda, but that’s not the type of messiah that Jesus was.
The false messiahs would often seek the favor and acclaim of the crowds to gain a following (“you receive glory from one another”)
The rejection of Jesus is now, and always has been, a willful decision to suppress truth and the clear testimony that has been provided from Christ Himself, from the inspired Scriptures, and from the Father above.
Conclusion
Conclusion