Untitled Sermon (2)

John 5:30–47 ESV

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. 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?”

INTRO:

“Can I Get a Witness”

The song originally performed by Marvin Gaye and covered by The Rolling Stones in 1964 ends with the refrain “I want a witness, I want a witness, I want a witness, I want a witness.”

Jesus’ claims that we’ve already encountered in our study of John were preposterous to the Jews because He didn’t resemble the type of Messiah they were waiting for, the type they wanted. So even though He didn’t have to, Jesus gave them a witness. In fact, our passage Jesus is going to provide them three key witnesses to confirm His Divine identity.

BODY:

In this passage Jesus defends His deity by appealing to these witnesses in support of this claim.

You may be out there tonight thinking you already believe this. You might be thinking, “I don’t need a witness.” But it’s always an encouragement to be reminded of why we believe what we believe. If you’re already there, trusting that Jesus is God like He has been saying, allow this passage to encourage you through these reminders that Jesus provides. And if you’re here tonight still undecided, let Jesus’ words be reason and evidence for you to decide once and for all.

Why John wrote. John 20:30-31

The verb “to bear witness” occurs 7x in this passage from verses 31-39

John 5:30-32

Jesus readily admits that his testimony, on its face-value, would not be accepted

“If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true”

However, because of what He has been arguing from 5:19 His testimony does not stand by itself.

John 5:19 the Son of Man can do nothing of his own accord

John 5:30 I can do nothing on my own

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.

Hebrews 1:1-2

There are many beliefs about who Jesus was or who He believed Himself to be, but the clear testimony from the Scriptures is that Jesus claimed to be God. He has borne witness about Himself that He is God; not just a prophet, not just a good teacher, not a human deliverer, but the Divine Savior.

1) Hear Jesus’ Own Testimony (vv. 30-32)

The problem isn’t just an old problem that Jesus identified in John 5:31. We live in a world that still looks at us as Christians when we say that Jesus is God and laughs at us when we tell them we believe because He taught it in the Bible.

Presuppositional versus classical apologetics.

The problem is not a matter of convincing, it’s a matter of the will.

The problem is a 2 Corinthians 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 fulfillment 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 of Ephrathah came onto the scene healing people, turning water to wine, and turning over the tables in the Temple?

It wasn’t for lack of proof, but lack of will, and that requires a provision that can only come from the Father.

John 6:44

END P1

John 5:33-35

“You sent to John”

John 1:19-27

“he has borne witness to the truth.”

Perfect tense (past completed action with present ongoing impact)

“Not that the testimony I receive is from man”

Jesus wasn’t appealing to John for his own conscience

There was no self-doubt because of the opposition

“Am I really who I think I am? I must be because John said so...”

“but I say these things so that you may be saved.”

John 1:29

John 1:35-37

John 1:4

John 1:12

John 3:16-17

“you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.”

John had created a buzz of excitement and even 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

Again, the problem isn’t a lack of testimony but a lack of will. We join a long line of witnesses like John who point to Jesus and testify that He is the Son of God, He is the Divine Messiah, He is God. And yet, like with John, people won’t listen. But what was John doing? He was quoting Isaiah. He was a prophet announcing to Israel the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah. He was a prophet who called out to all who would hear, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” He was the prophet who described Jesus as the eternal One whose sandals he was unfit even to untie. He was trying to help them to see that the prophecies they were so familiar with were all about this carpenter from Nazareth. If they weren’t going to take Jesus at His word, Jesus next appealed to the prophets as another witness testifying to His true identity.

2) Hear the Testimony of the Prophets (vv. 33-35; 39-40)

If you go into a Jewish synagogue today when they are reading from the book of Isaiah you will notice something peculiar. You will come one week and hear them read up until the middle of chapter 52. Then the next week you will show up and expect to pick back up where you left off only to find that they have skipped the rest of chapter 52 and all of chapter 53 to jump straight to 54.

John 5:39-40

“You search the Scriptures”

Search = examine/analyze

John 7:52

1 Cor 2:10

“because you think that in them you have eternal life;”

Psalm 119

Psalm 19:7-11

Philippians 3:6

Galatians 1:14

Romans 10:1-3

“and it is they that bear witness about me”

If our study of the Scriptures doesn’t lead us to Jesus, we have short-circuited the divine purpose for the Word.

Luke 24:25-27

John 5:39-40

John 5:45-47

This failure to grasp the true intent of the Scriptures would prove to be the very undoing of the Jews because their misunderstanding would be the very foundation of their judgment.

Men let’s make sure we’re not making the same mistake. When we pick up the Word of God we do so to draw closer to the Word of God. Every encounter you have with the Scriptures should make you love Jesus more, should make you more grateful for your salvation, should make you more eager to be with Christ.

END P2

John 5:36

“But” - even though you ignored and rejected John, 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, whose testimony could be better than John’s?

“For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish...”

John 5:19

Picking up the theme of the unity and equality with the Father

The Trinitarian dynamic present in chapter 5 cannot be overlooked.

We read of Jesus referencing YHWH as “Father” and think little of it because of our familiarity with the doctrine.

But every time Jesus made this reference to the Father it was a doubling down on His claims of deity.

“the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.”

John 3:2

[Looking ahead] John 7:31 and John 11:47

Acts 2:22

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 and 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 His Son. But Jesus did, and the Father has affirmed it.

3) Hear the Father’s Testimony (vv. 36-38; 41-44)

John 5:37-38

“And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me”

Not sure as to the direct referent of this statement

Probably more of a general statement of fact rather than an appeal to a specific instance.

“His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you”

Triple indictment

Do you wonder why God doesn’t interact with you Jews the way He did with your forefathers?

Jesus was inviting them to ask why they hadn’t experienced an interaction with the presence of God the way that Abraham or Jacob or Moses had.

“and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent”

We already addressed their rejection of the Word, 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

John 5:41-47

“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”

You’re not interested in the testimony of the Father because you don’t really love the Father

John 8:44

2 Cor 4:4

They were wanting 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”)

Rather, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me.” (John 5:43)

The eternal Father has borne witness through the works that Jesus was doing and would do. The loudest testimony from the Father hadn’t happened yet. It wasn’t the announcement to the shepherds in the field, it wasn’t Jesus turning water to wine, it wasn’t Jesus toppling the tables in the temple, it wasn’t Jesus healing the lame. It wouldn’t be Jesus restoring sight to the blind or raising Lazarus from the dead. The loudest testimony the Father would bear would be the empty tomb, the undeniable attestation that Jesus was who He said He was, and that the Father had accepted His completed work on the cross.

CONCLUSION:

We do not serve a silent God, and this world is not rebelling against a silent God. This last little section of John 5 here is a microcosm of what’s true for all men everywhere. God has spoken and affirmed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the way, the truth and the life. And any 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.

I get that some of you already knew these things.

These witnesses weren’t breaking new ground for you.

But I hope you’re encouraged after studying a passage like this to think about what Jesus was saying, to think that we don’t follow a politician with promises of better life here.

We don’t follow a king who promises to conquer opposing nations.

We don’t follow a military leader who promises the most powerful army.

We follow a Savior who made bold and plain statements about His identity as God.

And He wasn’t some lunatic cult leader.

His testimony is also the testimony of the Scriptures and the testimony of YHWH Himself.