June 14, 2015 John 5:30 – 47
Download discussion questions: John 5_30-47 greater testimony
The Jews accused Jesus of “making Himself equal to God” (John 5:18). He doesn’t deny the accusation or explain that they had misunderstood Him. He continues His response (that began in last week’s passage) to show them that they are exactly right.
Last week, His emphasis was on His intimate relationship with His Father and the absolute consistency and continuity between what the Father wanted and what the Son does. He continually pointed back to His innermost connection with the Father. He made it clear that the honor of the Father and the honor of the Son are inextricably linked.
Then (in this week’s passage), Jesus turns his discourse to the topic of witnesses. The word “testimony” (the same as “witness”) occurs eleven times in just nine verses. That kind of repetition is usually a good clue to the main point of a passage.
Anyone can make claims about their role in God’s work. Jesus acknowledged that His solo claim would not be recognized as valid, so He offered a string of additional witnesses: John the Baptizer, the Father’s works He (Jesus) was doing, the Father Himself, the Scriptures, and finally Moses, the hero of the Jews.
John the Baptizer gets the most attention (measured by the words Jesus speaks of him compared to the other witnesses). He reminds them that early in John’s ministry the Pharisees had sent a delegation to investigate him (v. 33; cf. John 1:19-27). There was no indication at that time that they objected to John’s ministry or had any reason to doubt his credibility.
Jesus even points out that the Jews themselves found John a popular preacher. They “were willing to rejoice for a while in his light” (v. 35). But only for a while. Our discussion turned to personal experience, “What makes you (or anyone) ‘rejoice’ in a sermon?” One comment seemed to encapsulate both our experience and that of the Jews: When it makes you feel good. “Feel-good” sermons are popular, and John was drawing large crowds at first. But only for a while. One member of the group suggested that the “feel-good” effect of John’s sermons probably ended about the time he started calling his audience “a brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7). Jesus adds John’s testimony to His own.
The works Jesus was performing are another powerful testimony He offers to the skeptical Jews. In fact, He points out that they are not actually His works (continuing the theme from last week’s passage). They are “the works which the Father has given” to Him (v. 36). The testimony of the works includes an important aspect: exactly what is being testified to? What is the substance or the point of all these witnesses? Jesus clarifies the content of the testimony at the end of verse 36: the works “testify that the Father sent Me.” The works (water into wine, removing money changers from the temple, healing a thirty-eight year handicap, etc.) were (or should have been) the unmistakable answer to the Jews’ accusations: Yes, He is the Son of the Father, making Him equal to God. That detail can be overlooked in our Bible reading – the significance that the Father sent Him. In Jesus’ discourses or in the Apostle John’s narration that fact (the Father sending the Son) is mentioned over forty times in this Gospel. Eventually when we get to chapter 17, that fact, the “sentness” of Jesus, is a central element of the church’s testimony to the world (John 17:18, 21, 23). The thread of His being sent by the Father and His intimate relationship with the Father throughout the Gospel of John is a thread about the nature of God (the Trinity) that we must not miss. But the Jews missed even the idea that Jesus could be the Son of God. The works were another persuasive proof the Jews ignored.
The testimonies continue to mount up. The Father Himself (v. 37) and Scripture in general (v. 39) and Moses in particular (v. 45-47) all combine to strengthen the believability of Jesus’ claims. But almost as an answer to the list of numerous witnesses, Jesus lists the obstacles that prevent the Jews from accepting the overwhelming testimony. They haven’t heard God or seen Him (v. 37). They don’t have His word “embedded” in their hearts (my paraphrase for “abiding” in v. 38). They don’t believe the One whom God sent (v. 38; there is that “sentness” again). They are unwilling to come to Jesus (v. 40) or to receive Him (v. 43). They don’t have a genuine love for God (v. 42). They really don’t even believe Moses (v. 47). I don’t think there is necessarily a one-to-one correspondence (although that would make for another interesting study), but the list of testimonies to Jesus is met by an equally long (or longer) list of obstacles that the Jews have raised against them.
Even in the face of the growing opposition (“the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him” John 5:18) and the self-imposed obstacles the Jews raised against Him Jesus desired their good, their redemption and salvation. One member of the discussion pointed out two times where He talked about the goal, “so that you may…” (v. 34, 40). He knew that for them to be saved (v. 34) or to have life (v. 40) they needed to get past the obstacles and respond to the testimony about Him. His compassion and desire for their good brought to mind our response to some of the awful evils we hear about and that we soon may face, from Islamic terrorists to attacks on marriage. Can we genuinely desire the salvation and the eternal life of those who threaten us? Jesus did.
Finally, near the end of His response to the Jews, Jesus pointed out their shallow posturing for “glory from one another” (v. 44). In the context of the controversy that started this episode (Jesus healed a man and told him to take his mat and walk) this “glory” might have been a conversation among the “Sabbath police” (a phrase coined in the discussion last week): “Good catch, when you saw the sinner carrying a mat on the Sabbath. You really know your job.” The glory from each other ignored the fact that a victim of decades of disability had been healed. Indeed the Jews had neither the word of God (v. 38) nor the love of God (v. 43) in them to draw them to glory or approval from God (v. 44). All they had was the approval of one another. They had no sense of what J.I. Packer calls “the weight and depth of spiritual things.” They only had their superficial list of rules. Our discussion ended with several comments from the group about the need for depth, so see the gravity and importance of our relationship with the Living God. May we not be distracted or satisfied with our own superficial substitutes for the Word of God and the love of God in our lives.