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?”
- John 5:30-47
Jesus has just healed a man on the Sabbath and it has caused no small controversy (John 5:1-17). John tells us that the Jews were “persecuting” Jesus for it (5:17). The word for “persecute” here can have courtroom connotations, like our english word “prosecute.” The Jews are presenting a charge against Jesus, and it rests on two accusations. (see John 5:18)
- He is working on the Sabbath.
- He is making Himself equal with God by calling Him ‘Father.’
And the Jews have a point. Working on the Sabbath is forbidden by the Law, as is making yourself equal with God. Any ordinary person who does these things is guilty.
Jesus responds to this accusation in 5:19-29 by claiming that He is no ordinary person. He is the Son of God who only does what the Father tells Him to do. Far from being liable to the judgment of these men, He will one day judge the living and the dead, and their eternal state will depend on whether or not they honor the Son. And then He explains: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life,” (John 5:24a). In other words: listen to what I am saying right now! If you believe it, you’ll be saved.
Our section opens with Jesus again reminding them that He has done nothing wrong, only what the Father has told Him to do (5:30). And then He concedes: “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true,” (John 5:31). Jesus understands that if He was making the claims that He is making without outside evidence, then He could be written off as a crazy person. But, this is where He turns to provide His evidence. If the Jews are attempting to prosecute Jesus, then Jesus now calls witnesses to the stand—four witnesses to be precise. But, after the evidence is presented there is going to still be problems in the Jews preventing them from believing—two problems to be precise.
Four Witnesses
Witness One: John the Baptist
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. 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. - John 5:32-35
Before we zero in on John the Baptist’s testimony, what does Jesus mean in verse 34? Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. We will return to this verse later, but I think Jesus is making it clear that the witnesses he is providing—particularly John—is for the sake of the audience, not for Himself. He isn’t having a crisis of identity and needs some confidence to keep going. Jesus isn’t dependent on the testimony of other people, doesn’t need their commendation to shore up His own identity as the Son of God. Rather, He is presenting these witnesses for the sake of the audience that they may be saved.
When we lack evidence, God is happy to provide so that barriers to belief may be removed.
John the Baptist was a prominent street preacher who operated out in the wilderness, preaching a message of repentance, a “The messiah is coming, so get ready” message. It was his divinely given job to identify the Messiah. But something about this man proved to strike a chord—the gospel of Mark tells us that all of Judea and all of Jerusalem (everyone in the country and in the big city) were going out to listen to John and to be baptized (Mark 1:5). Back in chapter one, the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests out to the countryside to investigate who this guy was, and he plainly told them that he was not the Christ, but was here to point out who the Christ was. And, the person he identifies is Jesus.
John is a kind of celebrity preacher. And, as verse 35 shows us, the Jews Jesus is speaking with here themselves enjoyed John’s ministry…for a while. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. Here Jesus stings the conscience of His listeners: Remember how you used to listen to and enjoy John’s ministry? What happened?
In time, John fell out of favor with the temple elites. Matthew’s gospel points out why: John had the audacity to tell these elites that they too were in need of repentance and forgiveness. And, if there is anything that sours the stomach of the wealthy and powerful and intelligent, it is reminding them that they are just as needy as everyone else for forgiveness from God. So, John was (for a time) in, but eventually was out. Which reminds us that if we remain faithful to the Lord, times of popularity are always stamped with expiration dates. Maybe the Lord gives you remarkable success and acclaim, but don’t cling to it. Be free to tell the truth instead.
Witness Two: The Miracles
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. - John 5:36
Starting with Jesus telling Nathanael what he was doing under the fig tree (John 1:48), Jesus has been performing miracles and signs to confirm His identity as the Son of God. They are repeatedly called “signs” in John’s gospel, because the miracles are intended to be just that: a sign pointing to something beyond just the act of the miracle itself. If anyone could perform the miracles that Jesus performed, you would (one would assume) take what that person says fairly seriously.
The irony, of course, is that it was a miracle itself that launched the very controversy Jesus is currently in. Jesus healed a man who had been a cripple for 38 years, and rather than be stunned into faith, the Jews are hardened into unbelief. Which foreshadows the problem we will address later.
But we can say it simply: evidence depends more on who, than on what. There are some people who see signs and wonders in Jesus’ life and they believe. They see what Jesus does and it compels belief. But there are plenty of other people who see what Jesus does, and they have the exact opposite response. Which tells us that who we are, what kind of person we are, is more important than what the evidence is that we receive.
Witness Three: The Father
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. - John 5:37-38
Here, strangely, Jesus calls a witness to the stand that He claims none of his hearers have ever heard or seen. What good is a witness that is invisible and mute to the audience?
As Jesus is providing witnesses, He told us He is doing this so that His hearers may be saved. So, one would assume that Jesus would be pointing to powerfully obvious witnesses, which is what He has done thus far with John the Baptist and His miracles; those are powerful evidences that Jesus isn’t just making stuff up.
But here? If I told you that I was the Messiah and one reason you should believe me is because God has testified to it, but then you asked me how, and I said, “Oh, well you can’t hear Him or see Him; His testimony is just something I am aware of.” Would you be persuaded?
Remember, Jesus has pointed to external, verifiable testimonies already. And Jesus is wanting to persuade. But Jesus is also wanting to tell the truth. And He knows that another voice that testifies to His identity is the voice of the Father, which Jesus has unique access to. In vs. 30, Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge…” Jesus is free from all guile and craft. He hasn’t been trained in the art of persuasion and marketing. He is a clear pond which reflects reality. And the reality is: the Father speaks to Him.
But another point here is Jesus identifying the problem of His audience. The Father is invisible and beyond our access, and He speaks to the Son in a way that we do not experience—yet He does speak in a way that we can hear. He is a God who reveals Himself through His word. But listen to what Jesus says: “you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.” In other words, you cannot have God’s Word abiding in you if the Word, Jesus Christ, doesn’t abide in you. Which brings us to our fourth and final witness.
Fourth Witness: Scripture
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, - John 5:39
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?” - John 5:46-47
There are so many places that Jesus makes staggering, audacious claims in the gospels—but this has to be one of the wildest.
- Jesus is claiming that the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings of the Old Testament all point to Him. That Moses wrote about Jesus.
- Because Jesus believes that Moses wrote of Him, and His audience doesn’t believe in Him, He accuses them of not really believing Moses: For if you believed Moses, you would believe me
- He relativizes Scripture itself. This sounds dangerous. But Jesus says that you can search the Scriptures looking for eternal life, but it will be vain and fruitless if it never leads you to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Take all of the ingredients of a carrot cake and lay them out one by one next to each other: eggs, flour, salt, oil, carrots, sugar, etc. Looking at them like that you think, what on earth do you do with this? What do these have to do with each other? But mix them together properly and bake them, and you have a delicious dessert. That’s what the Bible is like. There are many different parts, all very different, but if you bring them all together in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you have something wonderful. Try to do otherwise and you are left with something that may give you some good advice here, or a fun story there, but you will not find the life offered in Jesus.
How is all Scripture about Jesus?
Prophecy
There are prophecies in the Old Testament that look forward to the arrival of Jesus Christ. That He will be born of a virgin, in the town of Bethlehem, and would atone for His people’s sins. Moses wrote of a prophecy that one day, God would raise up another prophet like him.
Typologically
There are people, events, and institutions in the Old Testament that are a shadow of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is the “truer and better”…
- Temple (John 2)
- Exodus (Luke 9:31)
- Jonah (Matt 12:40-41)
- Solomon (Matt 12:42)
There are aspects of these characters, events, and institutions that pre-figure the gospel, that punch out a certain shape, cast a particular shadow that culminates in Jesus Christ.
Narratively
The story of the Old Testament is constantly pointing to a Messiah. Beginning in Genesis 3:15, we are looking for an offspring of the woman who will crush the offspring of the serpent, who will redeem and deliver humanity. This promise is eventually narrowed down to the family of Abraham, to a descendant of Judah, to a son of David. The story of the Old Testament keeps pushing us forward to find a human being who can resist the temptations of the serpent and redeem us from the curse. Jesus is that Savior.
Christomorphic
Jesus is God. When Jesus says that Moses wrote of Him, He didn’t only mean the parts where Moses is prophesying about “one day, there will be a prophet like me.” He didn’t only mean the times where Moses is describing the temple, and how Jesus is going to be the truer and better temple. He didn’t just mean how the story of the Bible is moving towards Christ. He meant that the God that Moses received the Ten Commandments from is Jesus.
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. - Jude 5
This is why Jesus can say that if you fail to honor Him, you fail to honor the Father. Jesus is the image of the invisible God and the exact imprint of His nature. His audience has never heard the Father’s voice or seen His form, but they can hear Jesus’ voice and see Him right there! And they are rejecting Him!
You cannot have a cool indifference towards Jesus, and then say, “But I love God.” Jesus is God. He is the Son who bears the likeness of His Father; He is the forward facing expression of the triune God in this world, acting in this world on behalf of the Father.
So, as you read about God’s commands and acts in the Old Testament, you are reading about the acts of the Son of God. And as you read about the miracles and teachings of Jesus Christ, you are reading about the God who spoke from Mount Sinai and walked in the garden of Eden.
Two Problems
Our Hope
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. - John 5:45
The Jews have made Moses their teacher, but failed to learn Moses’ most important lesson by rejecting the God that Moses worshipped. But their dilemma is so deadly because they don’t know it. They have put their hope in Moses, they have meticulously studied his laws, paying attention to the finest details of fern seed in it, but failing to see the elephant standing before them; or, to use Jesus’ words, the have sifted out a gnat, but drank a camel. The deadly needle of righteousness is so sharp, that they cannot feel it working its way down to their heart. They are filled with hope! Not with the hope in God’s mercy, but hope in their own potential! We can abide by Moses’ Law! We are good! We don’t need a Savior!
The situation is so deadly for them because they are too good, too moral, too clean and upright to actually see how dire their need is. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the way in which sinners can be saved—but if you fail to see yourself as a sinner? Then the very moral framework you claim to live by will be used against you to judge you—for them it was Moses.
Our greatest danger may not be our sin, but our false righteousness that has blinded us from seeing our sin.
