June 30, 2026 • 21 mins
Jesus doesn’t dodge hard questions in John 5, and neither do we in this podcast. After the healing at Bethesda triggers conflict, Jesus steps into His first open debate with Jerusalem’s religious leadership and explains why His judgment is just: He acts in complete unity with the Father, seeking the Father’s will rather than His own. That single claim forces a decision about Jesus’ authority, the Trinity, and what it really means to call Him the Son of God.
We walk slowly through John 5:30–47 and listen to Jesus build a clear, legal case using the Old Testament rules for testimony. He names four witnesses that confirm His identity as the Messiah: John the Baptist, his works and miracles, the Scriptures, and the Father’s own witness. Along the way, we talk about why John is called a “burning and shining lamp,” why miracles function as messianic signs, and how Moses and the Torah stand as evidence that the entirety of Scripture anticipates Christ.
The most personal moment comes when Jesus confronts leaders who search the Bible yet refuse to come to Him for life. We press into the modern edge of that warning: Scripture can be treated like a rulebook for earning salvation, a badge of status, or even an idol that replaces the living God. If you’ve ever felt the pull of peer approval, religious credentials, or performative faith, this passage diagnoses the problem and points back to the only remedy: coming to Christ Himself. Subscribe for more verse-by-verse teaching, share this with a friend who loves the Gospel of John, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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SPEAKER_00 (00:15):
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today we're going to becontinuing in John chapter 5,
where Jesus first trulyinteracts with the Jewish
leadership.
We might call it his first opendebate as a rabbi to the other
rabbis in Jerusalem.
(00:37):
And the context of this again iswhen Jesus had just healed the
lame man at the pool ofBethesda.
Last week Jesus declared that heis equal with the Father.
He told them that he had thepower to raise the dead, and
that the Father had given himthe power of judgment over
(01:01):
mankind.
Today we continue Jesus'declaration of who he is to the
Jews and to the rabbinicalleadership.
We begin at verse thirty, whereJesus says, I can do nothing on
my own.
As I hear, I judge, and myjudgment is just, because I seek
(01:25):
not my own will, but the will ofhim who sent me.
If I alone bear witness aboutmyself, my testimony is not
true.
There is another who bearswitness about me, and I know
that the testimony that he bearsabout me is true.
(01:46):
In these first three verses thatwe are studying today, Jesus
reemphasizes the relationshipthat he has with the Father.
As we mentioned last week, theFather and the Son are both God,
but they have different roleswithin the Trinity.
(02:06):
Jesus says, I can do nothing onmy own.
As I hear, I judge, and myjudgment is just, because I seek
not my own will, but the will ofhim who sent me.
When Jesus says, If I alone bearwitness about myself, my
testimony isn't true, he'sspeaking to the Jews in the
(02:28):
context of the Old Testamentlaw, so that they might
understand.
For example, Deuteronomyseventeen six reads, On the
evidence of two witnesses or ofthree witnesses, the one who is
to die shall be put to death.
A person shall not be put todeath on the evidence of one
(02:49):
witness.
Under Jewish law, the courts didnot find testimony valid unless
there were two or threewitnesses.
But Jesus says, There is anotherwho bears witness about me.
Jesus is saying, I'm not theonly one who bears witness to
this truth.
There is another.
(03:10):
And Jesus is describing FatherGod.
Jesus says that he judges basedupon what the Father says.
However, for the sake of theseJewish leaders, Jesus is going
to give four different witnessesthat also testify to him being
the Messiah.
John the Baptist.
(03:31):
His own miracles and his ownperfect works testify to who he
is.
The third witness is thescriptures.
Jesus fulfills the prophecies ofthe Old Testament, and the
fourth witness, as we've alreadymentioned, is Father God.
Picking up in verse thirtythree, you sent to John, and he
(03:55):
had borne witness to the truth,not that the testimony that I
receive is from man, but I saythese things so that you may be
saved.
He was a burning and shininglamp, and you were willing to
rejoice for a while in hislight.
(04:16):
But the testimony that I have isgreater than that of John, for
the works that the Father hasgiven me to accomplish, the very
works that I am doing bearwitness about me that the Father
has sent me.
Here in verses thirty threethrough thirty six, we see this
(04:37):
testimony about John the Baptistand Father God.
The Jewish leaders had sentmultiple delegations to John the
Baptist to find out what hismessage was all about, and when
they did, John would point to acoming Messiah.
The Jews had alreadyinvestigated John the Baptist
(04:59):
and they had documented multipletimes this message John
preached.
John the Baptist was a legalwitness under the law of Moses
for the Messiah to come.
But then Jesus says, Not thatthe testimony I receive comes
from men.
Jesus then clarifies that thetestimony that truly gives glory
(05:25):
to him and that matters is thetestimony of Father God.
Jesus points to the clearphysical witness of John the
Baptist for the sake of theseJewish leaders and their
possible salvation.
John was a good witness of thetruth, and he pointed the Jews
to the light.
(05:48):
Jesus calls John the Baptist aburning and shining lamp.
The language Jesus uses here isvery similar to Psalm 132 17,
which talks about how Godprepares a lamp for his
anointed.
John was that lamp.
(06:08):
He was not the light, but he wasthe lamp that prepared a way for
the anointed Jesus Christ.
And while his witness wasimportant, his ministry was only
to point to the ministry ofJesus.
As a side note here, Jesusmentions that he was a burning
(06:30):
and shining lamp.
The use of the word was heretells us John the Baptist is
likely dead, or at the veryleast, he's been imprisoned.
Jesus even tells the Jewishleaders that they were willing
to rejoice in his light for awhile.
Some of the Jews were enjoyingthe truth that John the Baptist
(06:52):
was preaching, but they did notunderstand the revelation about
him as the Christ.
John the Baptist as a prophetwas enjoyed by some of the
Jewish leadership for a time.
But now the very person he waspointing to, they are
(07:12):
challenging.
And Jesus again says, thetestimony that I have is greater
than that of John.
Again, Jesus describes thetestimony of God the Father.
It is greater, it is ultimatelywhat points to him as the
Messiah.
And along with the Father arethe works that the Father has
(07:36):
given him to accomplish.
This is the second witness Jesusspeaks about.
His works, these incrediblemiracles that were prophesied
from old, giving the blindsight, making the lame leap for
joy.
All these good things come fromthe Father, and they are coming
(07:57):
through the Christ.
And Jesus says that the Fatherwho sent me has himself borne
witness about me.
Well, this is very likelytalking about the very intimate
relationship the Son has withthe Father and how Jesus Christ
is revealing the Father to theworld.
(08:20):
It is also true that Father Godhas audibly testified to Jesus
being his son, and he did so athis baptism.
The Father has physically,audibly given testimony that
this is his son, in whom he iswell pleased.
(08:43):
Picking up in verse thirtyseven, and the Father who sent
me, he himself bore witnessabout me.
His voice you have never heard,his form you have never seen,
and you do not have his wordabiding in you, for you do not
believe the one whom he sent.
(09:04):
You search the scripturesbecause you think in them you
have eternal life, and it isthey that bear witness about me,
yet you refuse to come to methat you may have life.
In verses thirty seven throughthirty nine, Jesus makes this
personal.
He doesn't hold back when hespeaks to these Jewish leaders.
(09:27):
He tells them straight to theirface, they do not have God's
word abiding in them.
Why?
Because they have rejected theMessiah.
Well, these are some of Israel'smost educated, most learned men
in the scriptures.
They do not know God's word intheir hearts.
(09:50):
As some people today might say,they have it all in their heads.
They're eighteen inches fromsalvation.
The Jewish leaders rightfullystudied the scripture, but they
had turned the scripture into anidol.
While they diligently studiedthe scriptures and looked to the
(10:11):
scriptures for truth, they didnot understand the truth was a
living truth, a living Godoutside of the scripture.
They held the scripture abovethe one who gave them the
scripture, and they turned thecommands and ordinances of God
into a way in which they couldearn salvation, rather than
(10:35):
recognizing that salvation wasin God alone.
The very scriptures that theJews held in such high regard
bore witness to the living Godand to Jesus Christ.
With all of their diligentstudies, with all of their
titles and degrees, they failedto understand the true way of
(10:59):
eternal life was through theliving God.
The Jews had turned thescriptures into a rule book,
into laws that needed to beobeyed, believing that through
their obedience to God'scommands and even through their
national heritage, they wereGod's children.
(11:21):
This had gone so far with thePharisees that they believed
that people that didn't know thelaw of God were accursed.
They had searched the scripturesbecause they believed that
through the scriptures and theirknowledge of the scriptures,
that's how they had eternallife.
Their hope was in the scripturesitself.
(11:46):
They missed what the scriptureswere actually about, or should I
say, who the scriptures areactually about?
And in their self righteouspride, they were not only
ignorant, but unwilling to cometo Christ and have eternal life.
(12:06):
Picking up in verse forty one, Ido not receive glory from
people, but I know that you donot have the love of God within
you.
I have come in my Father's name,and you do not receive me.
If another comes in his ownname, you'll receive him.
(12:27):
How can you believe when youreceive glory from one another?
And you do not seek the glorythat comes from the one and only
God?
Do not think that I will accuseyou to the Father, but there is
one who accuses you, Moses, onwhom you've set your hope.
For if you believed Moses, youwould believe me, for he wrote
(12:52):
of me, but if you don't believehis writings, how will you
believe my words?
In these last seven verses fortoday, Jesus says that he does
not receive his glory frompeople, once again
re-emphasizing how his glory,how his true witness comes from
(13:13):
the Father.
The Jewish leaders thought theyunderstood Jesus' motivation.
They thought he was upsetbecause he wasn't officially
endorsed.
But Jesus knew their unbelief.
He knew that they did not loveGod, but instead they loved
(13:33):
their power.
Just as Jesus did not need thetestimony of men, neither did he
need their approval.
Jesus contrasts himself with theJewish leaders by saying he does
not receive glory from people.
He only sought to receive gloryand praise from his Father in
(13:56):
heaven.
Jesus once again says verydirectly, I know that you do not
have the love of God within you.
Jesus says, I have come in myFather's name.
This is actually a phrase theJewish leaders would be familiar
with from the Old Testament.
(14:18):
This phrase refers to someonewho comes with all of the
authority of the person they'rerepresenting, as well as that
representative being of thecharacter of that person.
Jesus is telling these Jewishleaders that he has come with
the authority of God the Father,and he represents the very
(14:41):
character of God the Father.
But he says, You will notreceive me.
Jesus is showing these Jewishleaders how they will not
receive Father God, how they arerejecting the very ambassador
that God the Father has sent.
(15:01):
Jesus did not come on his own,but he came to do the will of
the Fat.
Jesus says, if another personcomes, you'll receive him.
There had been many falsemessiahs that had been around
for over two hundred yearsbefore Christ.
They continued after JesusChrist, even into modern history
(15:24):
today.
The Jewish historian Josephusrecords a string of messianic
pretenders before seventy AD.
From the time of Christ untilour time now, it's been recorded
by the Jewish people thatsixty-four false messiahs have
(15:44):
been reckoned, which haveactually deceived the Jewish
people.
These false Christs come intheir own name.
They come with their ownauthority, and as Jesus tells
them, the Jewish people havereceived them, and many have
been deceived.
Then Jesus points to how theyreceive glory from one another.
(16:08):
The Jewish leaders' inability toreceive and believe in Jesus
Christ is because they're moreconcerned with the acceptance
they received from their peers.
They had become dependent upon asystem of accreditation and
accolades.
They were only concerned whatothers thought of them instead
(16:29):
of being concerned what Godthought of them, namely
accepting Jesus as the Christ.
Then Jesus says, Don't thinkthat I will accuse you, but
rather it will be Moses.
Why?
Because the very books of Mosesthat these leaders claimed to
(16:52):
follow condemned them.
They had missed the entire pointof the books of the law of
Moses, which was to point to theMessiah.
And Jesus points out how they'veset their hope on Moses and his
law.
And Jesus then emphasizes ifthey had believed in Moses, they
(17:15):
would be believing in him.
Why?
Because the witness of Scripturein Moses testifies to the
Messiah.
Jesus points to the Pentateuchand even Moses himself as a
witness against these Jewishleaders, and to his authority as
(17:37):
Christ.
While Jesus doesn't mention anyspecific scriptures here, let me
give you a few.
Genesis three fifteen, when Godpromises a coming Messiah at the
fall of man.
God says to the serpent, I willput enmity between you and the
(17:58):
woman, between your offspringand her offspring.
He shall bruise your head, andyou shall bruise his heel.
Genesis twenty two eighteen,when God is speaking to Abraham,
he says that in your offspringshall all the nations of the
earth be blessed.
That offspring is Christ.
(18:23):
Genesis forty nine ten, whenJacob is blessing his sons, he
says, The scepter shall notdepart from Judah, nor the
ruler's staff from between hisfeet, until tribute comes to
him, and to him shall be theobedience of peoples.
This is describing how the Kingof Kings will come from the
(18:45):
tribe of Judah.
Jesus is of the tribe of Judah.
Let me give you some morepassages because the law of
Moses is full of these examples.
Exodus twelve twenty one readsMoses called to all of the
elders of Israel and said tothem, Go and select lambs for
(19:07):
yourselves according to yourclans, and kill a Passover lamb.
The Passover lamb is a symbol ofthe Messiah.
Jesus is the final Passover lambwho saves us from death.
In fact, all of the sacrificesthat are made every single day
(19:29):
according to the law of Mosesare examples of how a final
sacrifice will one day beneeded, of how the Messiah is
coming and blood will be spilledfor the sin of the world.
Numbers twenty one nine readsMoses made a bronze serpent and
(19:49):
set it on a pole, and if aserpent had bit anyone, he would
look at the bronze serpent andlive.
Another clear example to howwhen people put their trust in
what God has provided for them,when they look to God, they will
be healed from their sin ofrebellion and how the serpent
(20:13):
had influenced mankind.
There are even more verses Icould quote.
The law of Moses is full ofsymbolism as to how the Messiah
would save us from our sin.
As we wrap up today, we can seethrough Jesus' declaration to
these Jewish leaders, Jesus isthe Word.
(20:34):
The Pharisees had turned thescripture, the Word of God into
an idol.
They worshiped the pages of thebook, rather than recognizing
that the Word of God is living,that the pages of the Word are
meant to point to the livingword.
(20:55):
And if the direction of ourworship and faith is in the
Scripture, rather than in theChrist who has given us the
Scripture, our faith ismisplaced.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
May the Lord make his face toshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
(21:17):
May He lift up His countenanceupon you and give you His peace.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today we're going to becontinuing in John chapter 5,
where Jesus first trulyinteracts with the Jewish
leadership.
We might call it his first opendebate as a rabbi to the other
rabbis in Jerusalem.
(00:37):
And the context of this again iswhen Jesus had just healed the
lame man at the pool ofBethesda.
Last week Jesus declared that heis equal with the Father.
He told them that he had thepower to raise the dead, and
that the Father had given himthe power of judgment over
(01:01):
mankind.
Today we continue Jesus'declaration of who he is to the
Jews and to the rabbinicalleadership.
We begin at verse thirty, whereJesus says, I can do nothing on
my own.
As I hear, I judge, and myjudgment is just, because I seek
(01:25):
not my own will, but the will ofhim who sent me.
If I alone bear witness aboutmyself, my testimony is not
true.
There is another who bearswitness about me, and I know
that the testimony that he bearsabout me is true.
(01:46):
In these first three verses thatwe are studying today, Jesus
reemphasizes the relationshipthat he has with the Father.
As we mentioned last week, theFather and the Son are both God,
but they have different roleswithin the Trinity.
(02:06):
Jesus says, I can do nothing onmy own.
As I hear, I judge, and myjudgment is just, because I seek
not my own will, but the will ofhim who sent me.
When Jesus says, If I alone bearwitness about myself, my
testimony isn't true, he'sspeaking to the Jews in the
(02:28):
context of the Old Testamentlaw, so that they might
understand.
For example, Deuteronomyseventeen six reads, On the
evidence of two witnesses or ofthree witnesses, the one who is
to die shall be put to death.
A person shall not be put todeath on the evidence of one
(02:49):
witness.
Under Jewish law, the courts didnot find testimony valid unless
there were two or threewitnesses.
But Jesus says, There is anotherwho bears witness about me.
Jesus is saying, I'm not theonly one who bears witness to
this truth.
There is another.
(03:10):
And Jesus is describing FatherGod.
Jesus says that he judges basedupon what the Father says.
However, for the sake of theseJewish leaders, Jesus is going
to give four different witnessesthat also testify to him being
the Messiah.
John the Baptist.
(03:31):
His own miracles and his ownperfect works testify to who he
is.
The third witness is thescriptures.
Jesus fulfills the prophecies ofthe Old Testament, and the
fourth witness, as we've alreadymentioned, is Father God.
Picking up in verse thirtythree, you sent to John, and he
(03:55):
had borne witness to the truth,not that the testimony that I
receive is from man, but I saythese things so that you may be
saved.
He was a burning and shininglamp, and you were willing to
rejoice for a while in hislight.
(04:16):
But the testimony that I have isgreater than that of John, for
the works that the Father hasgiven me to accomplish, the very
works that I am doing bearwitness about me that the Father
has sent me.
Here in verses thirty threethrough thirty six, we see this
(04:37):
testimony about John the Baptistand Father God.
The Jewish leaders had sentmultiple delegations to John the
Baptist to find out what hismessage was all about, and when
they did, John would point to acoming Messiah.
The Jews had alreadyinvestigated John the Baptist
(04:59):
and they had documented multipletimes this message John
preached.
John the Baptist was a legalwitness under the law of Moses
for the Messiah to come.
But then Jesus says, Not thatthe testimony I receive comes
from men.
Jesus then clarifies that thetestimony that truly gives glory
(05:25):
to him and that matters is thetestimony of Father God.
Jesus points to the clearphysical witness of John the
Baptist for the sake of theseJewish leaders and their
possible salvation.
John was a good witness of thetruth, and he pointed the Jews
to the light.
(05:48):
Jesus calls John the Baptist aburning and shining lamp.
The language Jesus uses here isvery similar to Psalm 132 17,
which talks about how Godprepares a lamp for his
anointed.
John was that lamp.
(06:08):
He was not the light, but he wasthe lamp that prepared a way for
the anointed Jesus Christ.
And while his witness wasimportant, his ministry was only
to point to the ministry ofJesus.
As a side note here, Jesusmentions that he was a burning
(06:30):
and shining lamp.
The use of the word was heretells us John the Baptist is
likely dead, or at the veryleast, he's been imprisoned.
Jesus even tells the Jewishleaders that they were willing
to rejoice in his light for awhile.
Some of the Jews were enjoyingthe truth that John the Baptist
(06:52):
was preaching, but they did notunderstand the revelation about
him as the Christ.
John the Baptist as a prophetwas enjoyed by some of the
Jewish leadership for a time.
But now the very person he waspointing to, they are
(07:12):
challenging.
And Jesus again says, thetestimony that I have is greater
than that of John.
Again, Jesus describes thetestimony of God the Father.
It is greater, it is ultimatelywhat points to him as the
Messiah.
And along with the Father arethe works that the Father has
(07:36):
given him to accomplish.
This is the second witness Jesusspeaks about.
His works, these incrediblemiracles that were prophesied
from old, giving the blindsight, making the lame leap for
joy.
All these good things come fromthe Father, and they are coming
(07:57):
through the Christ.
And Jesus says that the Fatherwho sent me has himself borne
witness about me.
Well, this is very likelytalking about the very intimate
relationship the Son has withthe Father and how Jesus Christ
is revealing the Father to theworld.
(08:20):
It is also true that Father Godhas audibly testified to Jesus
being his son, and he did so athis baptism.
The Father has physically,audibly given testimony that
this is his son, in whom he iswell pleased.
(08:43):
Picking up in verse thirtyseven, and the Father who sent
me, he himself bore witnessabout me.
His voice you have never heard,his form you have never seen,
and you do not have his wordabiding in you, for you do not
believe the one whom he sent.
(09:04):
You search the scripturesbecause you think in them you
have eternal life, and it isthey that bear witness about me,
yet you refuse to come to methat you may have life.
In verses thirty seven throughthirty nine, Jesus makes this
personal.
He doesn't hold back when hespeaks to these Jewish leaders.
(09:27):
He tells them straight to theirface, they do not have God's
word abiding in them.
Why?
Because they have rejected theMessiah.
Well, these are some of Israel'smost educated, most learned men
in the scriptures.
They do not know God's word intheir hearts.
(09:50):
As some people today might say,they have it all in their heads.
They're eighteen inches fromsalvation.
The Jewish leaders rightfullystudied the scripture, but they
had turned the scripture into anidol.
While they diligently studiedthe scriptures and looked to the
(10:11):
scriptures for truth, they didnot understand the truth was a
living truth, a living Godoutside of the scripture.
They held the scripture abovethe one who gave them the
scripture, and they turned thecommands and ordinances of God
into a way in which they couldearn salvation, rather than
(10:35):
recognizing that salvation wasin God alone.
The very scriptures that theJews held in such high regard
bore witness to the living Godand to Jesus Christ.
With all of their diligentstudies, with all of their
titles and degrees, they failedto understand the true way of
(10:59):
eternal life was through theliving God.
The Jews had turned thescriptures into a rule book,
into laws that needed to beobeyed, believing that through
their obedience to God'scommands and even through their
national heritage, they wereGod's children.
(11:21):
This had gone so far with thePharisees that they believed
that people that didn't know thelaw of God were accursed.
They had searched the scripturesbecause they believed that
through the scriptures and theirknowledge of the scriptures,
that's how they had eternallife.
Their hope was in the scripturesitself.
(11:46):
They missed what the scriptureswere actually about, or should I
say, who the scriptures areactually about?
And in their self righteouspride, they were not only
ignorant, but unwilling to cometo Christ and have eternal life.
(12:06):
Picking up in verse forty one, Ido not receive glory from
people, but I know that you donot have the love of God within
you.
I have come in my Father's name,and you do not receive me.
If another comes in his ownname, you'll receive him.
(12:27):
How can you believe when youreceive glory from one another?
And you do not seek the glorythat comes from the one and only
God?
Do not think that I will accuseyou to the Father, but there is
one who accuses you, Moses, onwhom you've set your hope.
For if you believed Moses, youwould believe me, for he wrote
(12:52):
of me, but if you don't believehis writings, how will you
believe my words?
In these last seven verses fortoday, Jesus says that he does
not receive his glory frompeople, once again
re-emphasizing how his glory,how his true witness comes from
(13:13):
the Father.
The Jewish leaders thought theyunderstood Jesus' motivation.
They thought he was upsetbecause he wasn't officially
endorsed.
But Jesus knew their unbelief.
He knew that they did not loveGod, but instead they loved
(13:33):
their power.
Just as Jesus did not need thetestimony of men, neither did he
need their approval.
Jesus contrasts himself with theJewish leaders by saying he does
not receive glory from people.
He only sought to receive gloryand praise from his Father in
(13:56):
heaven.
Jesus once again says verydirectly, I know that you do not
have the love of God within you.
Jesus says, I have come in myFather's name.
This is actually a phrase theJewish leaders would be familiar
with from the Old Testament.
(14:18):
This phrase refers to someonewho comes with all of the
authority of the person they'rerepresenting, as well as that
representative being of thecharacter of that person.
Jesus is telling these Jewishleaders that he has come with
the authority of God the Father,and he represents the very
(14:41):
character of God the Father.
But he says, You will notreceive me.
Jesus is showing these Jewishleaders how they will not
receive Father God, how they arerejecting the very ambassador
that God the Father has sent.
(15:01):
Jesus did not come on his own,but he came to do the will of
the Fat.
Jesus says, if another personcomes, you'll receive him.
There had been many falsemessiahs that had been around
for over two hundred yearsbefore Christ.
They continued after JesusChrist, even into modern history
(15:24):
today.
The Jewish historian Josephusrecords a string of messianic
pretenders before seventy AD.
From the time of Christ untilour time now, it's been recorded
by the Jewish people thatsixty-four false messiahs have
(15:44):
been reckoned, which haveactually deceived the Jewish
people.
These false Christs come intheir own name.
They come with their ownauthority, and as Jesus tells
them, the Jewish people havereceived them, and many have
been deceived.
Then Jesus points to how theyreceive glory from one another.
(16:08):
The Jewish leaders' inability toreceive and believe in Jesus
Christ is because they're moreconcerned with the acceptance
they received from their peers.
They had become dependent upon asystem of accreditation and
accolades.
They were only concerned whatothers thought of them instead
(16:29):
of being concerned what Godthought of them, namely
accepting Jesus as the Christ.
Then Jesus says, Don't thinkthat I will accuse you, but
rather it will be Moses.
Why?
Because the very books of Mosesthat these leaders claimed to
(16:52):
follow condemned them.
They had missed the entire pointof the books of the law of
Moses, which was to point to theMessiah.
And Jesus points out how they'veset their hope on Moses and his
law.
And Jesus then emphasizes ifthey had believed in Moses, they
(17:15):
would be believing in him.
Why?
Because the witness of Scripturein Moses testifies to the
Messiah.
Jesus points to the Pentateuchand even Moses himself as a
witness against these Jewishleaders, and to his authority as
(17:37):
Christ.
While Jesus doesn't mention anyspecific scriptures here, let me
give you a few.
Genesis three fifteen, when Godpromises a coming Messiah at the
fall of man.
God says to the serpent, I willput enmity between you and the
(17:58):
woman, between your offspringand her offspring.
He shall bruise your head, andyou shall bruise his heel.
Genesis twenty two eighteen,when God is speaking to Abraham,
he says that in your offspringshall all the nations of the
earth be blessed.
That offspring is Christ.
(18:23):
Genesis forty nine ten, whenJacob is blessing his sons, he
says, The scepter shall notdepart from Judah, nor the
ruler's staff from between hisfeet, until tribute comes to
him, and to him shall be theobedience of peoples.
This is describing how the Kingof Kings will come from the
(18:45):
tribe of Judah.
Jesus is of the tribe of Judah.
Let me give you some morepassages because the law of
Moses is full of these examples.
Exodus twelve twenty one readsMoses called to all of the
elders of Israel and said tothem, Go and select lambs for
(19:07):
yourselves according to yourclans, and kill a Passover lamb.
The Passover lamb is a symbol ofthe Messiah.
Jesus is the final Passover lambwho saves us from death.
In fact, all of the sacrificesthat are made every single day
(19:29):
according to the law of Mosesare examples of how a final
sacrifice will one day beneeded, of how the Messiah is
coming and blood will be spilledfor the sin of the world.
Numbers twenty one nine readsMoses made a bronze serpent and
(19:49):
set it on a pole, and if aserpent had bit anyone, he would
look at the bronze serpent andlive.
Another clear example to howwhen people put their trust in
what God has provided for them,when they look to God, they will
be healed from their sin ofrebellion and how the serpent
(20:13):
had influenced mankind.
There are even more verses Icould quote.
The law of Moses is full ofsymbolism as to how the Messiah
would save us from our sin.
As we wrap up today, we can seethrough Jesus' declaration to
these Jewish leaders, Jesus isthe Word.
(20:34):
The Pharisees had turned thescripture, the Word of God into
an idol.
They worshiped the pages of thebook, rather than recognizing
that the Word of God is living,that the pages of the Word are
meant to point to the livingword.
(20:55):
And if the direction of ourworship and faith is in the
Scripture, rather than in theChrist who has given us the
Scripture, our faith ismisplaced.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
May the Lord make his face toshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
(21:17):
May He lift up His countenanceupon you and give you His peace.
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