John 5:31-47 Star Witnesses

01.03.09 John 5:31-47 (NASB)

Audio Sermon File: John 5:31-47

Going Deeper: Study Guide

Star Witnesses

One of the most intriguing things that has happened to me was a phone call a few years back. I received a call at work which had Hollywood like overtones…the call seemed kind of surreal…and it was the kind of thing that you never would expect, but only on TV or the big screen.
When I answered the call …the reply was ‘Hi I am agent XXX of the FBI from the Los Angeles office…’ Can you believe it the FBI called me! This kind of caught me off guard and my first thought was - why are they calling me? …did I do something that I didn’t know about during my seminary years in LA? Then one of my next thoughts was - is this guy for real? And I will tell you more about what happened later.

In chapter 5 we have already discovered that Jesus was in Jerusalem during a feast of the Jews (5:1). In addition we know that starting in this chapter and all the way through to the end of chapter 12 the OPPOSITION to the Son of God comes out into the open. The Jews were threatened by Jesus’ theological claims, and to the presence and popularity of Jesus among the people - so in their depraved hearts - they clearly wanted Jesus dead.

The Jews were greatly offended by Jesus’ statements of truth. The truth was that the Father sent Jesus to earth and brought undivided glory to the Father (5:23). Jesus also acted in full obedience to the Father (v.30). And Jesus also unmasks these truths in chapter 5: that He is EQUAL IN NATURE to God, and possesses EQUAL AUTHORITY to the Father - because Jesus is God the Son, and all God’s glory is being displayed in Him. As our look at chapter 5 continues we find this in God’s Word:

31 "If I [alone] testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. 32 "There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. 33 "You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 "But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 "He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 "But the testimony which I have is greater than [the testimony of] John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish--the very works that I do--testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 "And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. 38 "You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. 39 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41 "I do not receive glory from men; 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 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 you do not seek the glory that is from the [one and] only God? 45 "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. 47 "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

As we begin we have already discovered in the previous verses that the Jews launched an impromptu attack on Jesus which could be likened to a court room trial. The Jews that were there, were the religious establishment and they dismissed the serious and immense implications of believing the claims of Jesus. As a result they were not committed to Christ and headed for judgement. The Jews took the liberty to examine the claims of Jesus by placing Him upon the hotseat. Through our passage today, the drama stirred up by the Jews continues, and they ‘hammer’ Jesus - and the court room like trial progresses - and now Jesus provides 4 witnesses to stand against His opposers:

1. The Baptist’s Life (v33-35)
2. The Works of Christ (v.36)
3. The Words of God (v.37-38) and
4. The Scriptures (v.39-47)

These 4 STAR WITNESSES are more than enough testimony to substantiate the claims of Christ. The rejection of sound testimony has its consequences - and Jesus doesn’t hold anything back about belief in Him, before the Jews. At the heart of the matter, which is the bottom line - is that the WITNESSES testify to the Jews need of a real relationship with God through Jesus. So as I go through our sermon - I would ask you to keep thinking about the word relationship.
v.31 Jesus had already given His own testimony in the verses which precede our passage. Yet like in any court case, the court would not make a decision based upon self witness. Jesus knew this and said in verse 31 - If I [alone] testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. This statement is not an admission to the possibility of false testimony - but what Jesus is doing is stating something very logical. That any person judging a trial would inevitably suspect and even expect the accused would possess some bias toward himself and the case. In other words it is unreasonable to establish truth solely through one person, if other witnesses are available. From a Biblical perspective this is also true, as Deuteronomy 19:15, states this - ‘A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.’ Without additional witnesses there would not be enough evidence that could render a legal judgement. Jesus therefore provides the STAR WITNESSES.

v.32 The overarching WITNESS as we go through our passage today is God Himself. Jesus states - "There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. Jesus wraps this whole passage in the proper context - that is that the only witness that counts, and establishes the truth, is God. Yes it is true - that true and unbiased testimony comes from God - the author of life and living - and truth is established by Him.
Yet we will see that as individuals, just like the Jews - we can accept the truth or reject the truth regardless of the source. If we are not open to God, then to the person who rejects God, he or she will also reject the facts - even if they are true. This is the mindset of an unbeliever - as it states in Roman 1:25 - They exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Therefore it is God the Father who fills the role of being the additional and continuous witness of the ‘two or three’ that is needed to establish a testimony which is true.

THE FIRST WITNESS is...

1. The Baptist’s Life (v33-35)

v.33 To begin the list of witnesses brought forth, Jesus goes to John the Baptist. Going back to chapter 1:29, it was the Baptist that revealed who Jesus is when he made this declaration - Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

v.34 Jesus didn’t need the testimony of a man. So Jesus’ reference to John the Baptist, really is a contrast between mere human testimony and that which comes from Himself. It was the end purpose that God use the Baptist to lead others to Jesus, who is the One who is able to save. So Jesus is saying that if you don’t accept my testimony, then you should at least accept John’s testimony pointing the way to salvation. All - if not most of us have gone through a blackout. Even if we have a candle - we are so thankful for that bit of light. But when the power turns back on, yes we are grateful, but most of us - once again take for granted electrical power and light. Jesus’ first witness was like the lights people used during the blackout.

v.35 Likewise John the Baptist was a lamp that was sent to the Jews so that they could see in their spiritual darkness. He prepared the way for the Messiah - Jesus, in such an unmistakable way that Jesus compares Him to a brightly shining source of light. That light was what God gave to the Jews as a starting point for the gospel. Those who came into contact with John were challenged and did rejoice in his ministry. The result was that some came to know the Messiah that he pointed to, yet many did not receive Jesus as their Saviour - despite the true light that was now available. The light was available for a short while to the Jews, but then faded out with the imprisonment and then death of John the Baptist.

THE SECOND WITNESS...

2. The Works of Christ (v.36)

v.36 John’s light only lasted for a while, and his testimony was strong, but Jesus tells the Jews that there is testimony … greater than [the testimony of] John. This leads Jesus to call to bear, the second STAR WITNESS - that body of witness was THE WORKS OF CHRIST Himself. Jesus was in a sense saying - If you don’t take my word, well then you can’t deny the ministry of John the Baptist - and that is really good evidence. I know you deny my person already, but what about the works that the Father has given to me to perform? Even the things that I am doing now should say something to you that should clue you in, that God has sent me. The word - work - refers to the miracles that God has given to Jesus to do. Jesus performed miracles because He was sent by God, and these works were proof of this. We should note that miraculous works do not produce faith in a person - saving faith is a gift given by God.

THE WORKS OF CHRIST himself were witness to the fact that who He said He was - is true. It also served to speak to His Divine origin, that Jesus was sent from God down to earth. Now Jesus ups the anti and brings forth the next witness.

THE THIRD WITNESS

3. The Words of God (v.37-38)

v.37-38 If the works were not enough for the Jews to believe in Jesus, because the works could be considered as coming indirectly from God - then here is the direct witness…. the Father who sent [Jesus], He has testified of [Jesus]. This direct testimony is something that has taken place - and because it comes from God - it will stand as a lasting witness. Up to and including this moment in time the opposing Jews that were before Jesus - still rejected Him, despite the body of witnesses. What follows now - is a stinging revelation of these Jews’ hearts. Jesus remarks that the opposing Jews have never heard God’s voice or even have seen Him in appearance. Remember… that Jesus is saying this to some of the most religious men in the city, and even nation of Israel. Despite their religiosity - what Jesus is declaring….or passing judgement on - is that these Jews have no living relationship with God since they do not believe Him whom He sent (v.38) - they reject Jesus the Messiah - so therefore they have no life. All we need to do is just to look back to verse 24 and it is clear the state of these Jews - v.24 Jesus says - Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. In fact these Jews, that Jesus is addressing will never come to a saving relationship in Christ. Why do I say that? How do I know? Jesus in verse 37 states - You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. The language of the original text reflects that the hearing and seeing, is a permanent state. Jesus knows their hearts and knows their future destination, and He holds the power to judge man. Even though the Jews were very well versed in God’s Word - and they even had the ministry of the prophets before them - and they even had Jesus proclaiming God’s Word - they rejected it all.

Jesus makes it abundantly clear that God’s word is not abiding in them now as He addresses them - nor ever. The Jews did not have the spiritual illumination that they claimed and believed that they had. They never really appropriated and applied God’s word into their lives. It was all outward, it was a - ‘impress them with what I know’ religious conformity. This is what 1 Cor. 2:14 teaches us - But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
On the outside the religious Jews looked great, and many people looked up to them. But on the inside they were self deceived and they were un-righteous to their darkened depraved core. The reason why they did not have spiritual illumination is that they rejected Jesus and so were not indwelt with the Spirit of God. It is only through a personal relationship, not a religious relationship…that a person may hear and know God, and truly understand His will as revealed in the Scriptures.

As I was telling you at the start - about the call from the FBI… the reason that the FBI agent called was to establish some facts on a case that they were working on. I was in effect being called to be as a WITNESS. The case involved a friend of mine that works in a national defense/aerospace sector. With the high threat of terrorism and espionage in the US and even world wide, I guess the FBI needed some information from me. This is the part of the call which really is like the movies…the FBI agent asked me if I could arrange a rendezvous with other FBI agents on US soil. They suggested that I could perhaps drive down the 99 - to the Canada/US border and be interviewed on the US side. I asked them to come to Canadian soil - and they said that it would require too much red tape - so they said they would call me back. The nature of the meeting was to establish my friends declared relationship with me. My friend was moving into a part of a company that requires US Governmental security clearance, and therefore he was undergoing a heavy duty background check. My friend had to list all the foreign contacts that he has had in the past several years - and I was one of them having served in the same church while I was down in LA - I guess I am ‘guilty’ by association and therefore I was caught up in the dragnet.

My friend used my name as a WITNESS to establish his activities in the recent years….so I got a call from the FBI. The FBI agent was calling me to be a WITNESS to the integrity of my friend…In turn I didn’t know if the FBI agent was ‘legit,’ so I called my friend, and used him as a WITNESS to verify the reality of the call and the identity of the agent.

Today’s passage is no different - we all need witnesses to establish the facts…to be able to come to a sound conclusion. Jesus so far has brought forth as WITNESSES - 1. The Baptist’s Life; 2. The Works of Christ; and 3. The Words of God ... Jesus now calls to bear testimony….

THE FOURTH WITNESS

4. The Scriptures (v.39-47)

v.39-40 Jesus has just touched upon, in verse 38, and now draws upon His final STAR WITNESS - The Scriptures. The Scriptures are used to offer testimony to Jesus’ claims to Deity. The Jews were excellent students who search the Scriptures - diligently studying God’s Word. They were academics in the field of Biblical studies, and Jesus recognizes this. Yet what Jesus had a problem with, was that the Jews looked merely to the intellectual aspect of their pursuit, and therefore neglected the spiritual side and purpose of the Word.

What Jesus was saying - was that the Jews believed that eternal life was based upon the magnitude of knowledge one could gain about the Bible - and not upon the Person that the Scriptures testify or pointed to. The main theme of the Scriptures is Christ as the Messiah. So the Jews pursuit of Biblical knowledge led them to be ‘information dumps’ - they had no real life changing knowledge about Jesus, who alone could save them and grant eternal life. As believers we often get caught up in learning all we can about the Scripture. And this is a good thing. We have Theologica, we have Christian radio, and a host of ways that we can learn more. Yet in this process we need to guard ourselves from becoming sheer scholars. Yes it is important to excel academically, and there is a place for it - but it is not to be at the expense of godliness. One of my professors said this and I will always remember it - It is not what you know, it is who you are.
In some senses what Jesus is saying in our passage is the same - It is not what you know, it is who you are - the Jews had information - head knowledge, which translated into scholarship. Yet the critical thing was the area of their lives which called for a knowledge and relationship with Jesus - they could talk the talk, but they couldn’t walk the walk. They knew it all, but were not believers in Christ.

The opposing Jews were proud of their knowledge, but they should have been ashamed of their godliness (lack of true godliness which brings glory to God). Despite all their studies this reality surfaced - and because Jesus knows their hearts He says - you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. True life worth living, and the real hope of a life of blessing to come, is found only in relationship to Christ Jesus.

The Scriptures stand as a witness to Jesus. Jesus confronts the Jews head on and exposes their spiritual hypocrisy. Jesus doesn’t leave it at that, but from verses 41 to the end of chapter 5 - He gives the reason why the Jews don’t believe and the consequences of unbelief.

v.41-42 Jesus continues His discourse and spells out that He is not seeking praises - I do not receive glory from men. It is not the honour of men or even glory for Himself that Jesus is seeking, but Jesus seeks to bring glory to the Father. Jesus, knows the hearts of men - and He identifies a problem. He has come to know through personal experience that these religious men that He addressed, do not have the love of God in them. Outwardly they appear to love God, but Jesus sees their inward condition which is void of love for God. What Jesus was saying was that these Jews did not love God, and as a result they did not love Christ. These Jews were religious professionals - they practiced religion on a proficient secular level. This kind of thing happens today - as an application - this is what our passage warns us about. Christians today if unaware can slip into this trap - we can love listening to preaching, we can love reading Christian books, we can love doing ministry - and we can do all these religious activities without loving God. It is relationship - not religion - that pleases Christ.

When relationship is in check, religious activity will be in check - and we can escape the snares of a dead faith, and the noose of empty works.

v.43-44 Jesus came to the Jews to grant eternal life, with the full authority of God. Jesus came in the Father’s name, which is to say that all the impeccable character of God was with Christ. The Father sent Christ as His emissary, his agent to do His work. But what happens? Do the Jews receive Christ? No, instead they are openly opposed to Him. This very act of rejection substantiates their unbelief and lack of love for God in their hearts.

Isn’t it true that our actions speak louder than words. Our actions expose our heart attitudes. The Jews willingly accept everyone else under the sun. They accept anyone who makes a self claim of greatness…false messiahs….accepting of anyone who comes - not in the Father’s name, but in his own name. They receive man and not God - no wonder Jesus asks - How can you believe? These Jews are man pleasers, looking to one another for self congratulations - and had not a second thought - about bringing glory to God - like Jesus does. They pat each other on the backs and say ‘you’re such a great guy.’ All their academic intellectual knowledge amounted to mere praise or glory from one another, yet the single most important source of praise was missing. The ultimate evaluation - of one’s life - the one that is most significant and meaningful - is from the [one and] only God.

v.45-47 All the STAR WITNESSES have been called to testify to Christ’s claims. The courtroom-like scene comes to an end, but there is a final twist. Jesus who was on trial by the Jews turns the tables on them. The Jews aren’t the ones who hand down the judgement….not even Jesus will accuse [them] before the Father. The Jews’ own scholarly knowledge - is what will condemn them before the Father. The religious Jews focus was on keeping the Mosaic Law, the Pentateuch - this was the fulcrum, which they believed eternal life rested upon - yet they missed the whole point of what Moses wrote - and therefore rejected God’s revelation. They believed that holiness could be obtained by carrying out the Law - but Moses wrote the Law in order to demonstrate that they could not fulfill the standard of holiness that is fitting to a perfect God.

This is what the Apostle Paul says about the Law in Romans 3:20-23 - ...because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law [comes] the knowledge of sin. 21 But now apart from the Law [the] righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even [the] righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Moses words in the Scriptures - is what will accuse them of guilt. What Moses wrote served the purpose of pointing man to his sinfulness and the utter need for a Saviour. Jesus said this to His disciples - in Luke 24:44 - "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

The discourse ends with this question from Jesus…. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? Jesus is saying to the Jews - if they had really believed Moses, they would not oppose and reject Jesus - they certainly would not murderous intent in their hearts toward Him - and want to have Him killed - but instead they would have trusted in Him as their Messiah and Lord.

Let me finish today’s lesson with this closing statement - Jesus calls to the stand four STAR WITNESSES and then lays out the consequences of unbelief in these WITNESSES. At the heart of the ‘trial’ is the call by Jesus that relationship with Christ is what is important. Relationship with Christ brings glory to the Father. And rejection of Jesus Christ, the One who is the substance of that saving relationship - and to claim to have a relationship with God is apostasy.

(For a full explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - click here - http://www.doihaveeternallife.blogspot.com/)
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