John 5:30-47 – This is Jesus: Validated by Witnesses (2 of 2)

Preached on April 13, 2008, by Eric Schumacher.

Topics: Gospel Of John

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© Eric M Schumacher – Preached April 13, 2008 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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Three Questions and a Strong Statement:

1. Do you study the Scriptures?
2. When you study the Scriptures, do they cause you to hope in Jesus Christ?
3. In the end, do you value what God approves of more than what man approves of?

If you answered an honest “yes” to these questions—even if an “imperfect,” struggling “yes”—then you have eternal life. If you answered “no” to any of those questions, it may be because you do not have eternal life. We will see why as we move through this passage.

The Fourth Witness: The Scriptures

Jesus has been showing these Jews that several other witnesses testify to who he is. Nevertheless, the do not believe—God’s word is not abiding in them. Now, Jesus turns to the fourth witness that testifies to who he is, the Scriptures.

In verses 39-40, Jesus teaches that the Scriptures are a source of life, but only to those who hear the true purpose of the Scriptures and trust in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to these Jews, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.” “You search the Scriptures…” The word “Scriptures,” which means “writings,” refers to what we know as the Old Testament. The Scribes and Pharisees were diligent students of the Scripture, zealously devoted to “searching” it.

The reason they searched the Scriptures so diligently is that they thought they would gain eternal life from them. Hillel, a first century Jewish teacher, is quoted as saying, “The more study of the Law the more life….If a man…has gained for himself words of the Law he has gained for himself life in the world to come.” [1]

Life

The Jews were not without warrant for believing that they would have eternal life in the Scriptures (cf Ps 1; Neh 9:29; Ezek 20:11; Rom 10:5). In the book of Leviticus 18:5, the Lord said, “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”

When Moses spoke his final words to Israel, he reminded the nation to “do all the words of the law” because it was “no empty word” for them, but their “very life” (Deut 32:46).

Witness to Christ

But, notice that Jesus says, “you think that in them you have eternal life.” These Jews were mistaken.

They were not mistaken to think that eternal life can be found through the Scriptures. They are deceived because they think that they have life in them, when they don’t.

The reason they don’t have life is because they do not understand what the Scriptures are really all about.

Jesus says, “It is they that bear witness about me.” The Scriptures bear witness to Jesus Christ. If you miss him, you miss eternal life, no matter how devoted you are to your devotions.

Jesus hits on a key principle of Scripture interpretation—all of the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ. In one way or another, all Scripture points ultimately to the life, ministry, teaching, death, resurrection, and reign of Jesus the Messiah.

On the road to Emmaus, after his resurrection, Luke 24:26-27 tells us that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Jesus, from all the Scriptures—beginning with Moses and all the prophets—was able to preach the Gospel to these men.

In Matthew 11:13, Jesus says, “For all the Prophets and the Law [shorthand for the Old Testament] prophesied until John…” They prophesied until John—because he announced the fulfillment of their prophesying, which was the arrival of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to be what every “jot and tittle” of the Old Testament was pointing forward to (Mt 5:17-18).

And here, in John 5, Jesus is saying that if these Jews had rightly read the Scriptures, then they would have recognized who he was. Their reading, however, was both “wooden and superstitious.” The failure of these Jews is that with all their scrupulous attention to Scripture, they missed the evidence that pointed directly to Jesus Christ.

No Life without Christ

Jesus is not warning them or us to distance ourselves from the Scriptures. He is warning against the way in which the Jews “searched” the Scriptures, thinking that they had life merely by virtue of searching the Scriptures. (Jesus is not anti-Jew or anti-Scripture, he is anti-bad-bible-interpretation.)

There is life in the Scriptures—but it does not come through a superstitious reverence for ink and paper. Life does come through keeping the letter of the law in a wooden fashion. In fact, none of us is able to do the law at all.

The Scriptures are not life-giving, in and of themselves. Given the situation of our sinful, hardened hearts, it is not possible to have life through the law. In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul writes:

3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

3:21-22 For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

In order to have life through the law, then you must perfectly conform to everything written in it. If you want to have eternal life by being a “good person,” then you must be a perfect person. This is why Paul writes in Romans 7:10, “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.”

Everyone of us is a sinful rebel. Therefore, every one of us is under a curse. We deserve the wrath of God in hell—and will go there forever, if we do not find life.

That is why the Jews did not have life. They thought that through self-righteous, external conformity to the word or by superstitious attachment that they would have life. But that was never truly the purpose of the law or the source of eternal life for God’s people.

In the end, we do not find our life in the Scriptures themselves, no matter how much we study or memorize them. Rather, we find our life in where the Scriptures we study lead us—namely, in Jesus Christ, the one to whom the Scriptures point. The life that is available through the Scriptures is Jesus Christ—the way, the truth and the life.

The Apostle Paul will share the conviction of Jesus Christ. He writes to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:15), “from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Are the “sacred writings” able to give you salvation? Yes! How? “Through faith in Jesus Christ.”

This is why Paul writes in Romans 10:4 that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Christ is the “end of the law”—that is, he is the purpose, the goal of the law. He is what the Old Testament was leading to.

Paul summarizes why this is so in Galatians 3:13-14:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

We already saw that “everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them” is under a curse. Now, Paul goes on to argue that Jesus the Messiah saves us from the curse of the law “by becoming a curse for us.” He was crucified, “hanged on a tree,” under the curse of the Law—even though he was sinless and did not deserve it. Christ thus removed the curse so that whoever believes in him—that is, whoever trusts in him to pay for their sins and to satisfy God’s demands of righteousness on their behalf—will receive “the blessing of Abraham”—the promised life-giving Spirit of God.

We have, therefore, eternal life, not through our perfect adherence to the Scriptures—but through our reliance upon the One of whom those Scriptures speak—the Messiah, Jesus.

Jesus has life in himself (John 5:21, 26)—and that life is available to all who come to him and only to those who come to him.

This is something that John (and others) have been trying to communicate all throughout this Gospel—Jesus is the one the Old Testament points to from beginning to end. Jesus is the fulfillment of what the Passover Lamb and the Temple and the Bronze Serpent on the pole were all pointing toward. Therefore, his readers should believe in him.

That is to say—you, this morning, should repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ!

The one who reads the Scriptures diligently has failed to understand and obey them, if he has failed to see and believe in Jesus Christ.

Read with Eyes to Jesus

Let’s pause here to consider how this might apply to us.

First of all, read the Bible! God has provided us his word so that we might know how to have eternal life. If you do not study the Bible, then you will never learn where eternal life may be found.

Nevertheless, learn to read the Scriptures correctly! Here is a frightening lesson from this passage: You can be a life-long, devoted, diligent, zealous, enthusiastic, disciplined student of Scripture who memorizes large portions of it—and not believe in Jesus.

These Jews were devoted students of the Scriptures! These Jews did not neglect to study the Scripture! And, they did not believe in Jesus!

We must learn to read the Old Testament in the same way that Jesus and his Apostles did. That is why every week, we go back to some part of the Old Testament that points forward to what is happening in that text in John’s Gospel. I want us to learn to see the Old Testament as a book that is relevant—not because it has stories with moral lessons—but because it is the story of redemption that is always anticipating its own fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Yes, there are good moral examples. But salvation through our moral living is not the aim of the Bible. The aim of the Bible is to lead us to hope in Jesus Christ.

You Refuse

These Jews will not come to Jesus however, because they misread the Scripture. This misreading is not an intellectual problem. It is a deliberate rejection of what the Scripture offers. Jesus says, “You refuse to come to me…”

The Scriptures are clear, but their hearts are dark. The Apostle Paul writes (2 Corinthians 3:14-16):

But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶ But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

It was not a lack of insight that caused their unbelief, but sin. They did not want to believe.

A failure to trust in Jesus Christ when the Scripture is taught is willful rebellion against God, which flows from idolatry.

Jesus says, “You refuse to come to me that you may have life.” If they will not come to him, then they cannot have life. And, sadly, this means that they are spiritually dead.

Likewise, if you are a person who hears the word of God taught but will not confess Jesus Christ as God, as Lord and Savior—then you are in willful rebellion and spiritually dead.

The Motive

With this, in verses 41-44, Jesus moves to spell out their motive in rejecting him. In summary: The reason people rebel against trusting in Jesus Christ is that they care more about the approval of other people than they care about the approval of God.

Jesus says in verse 41, “I do not receive glory from people.” In this context, “glory” means “esteem” or “praise” or “approval.” To receive “glory” from people means to receive their “approval.”

Jesus did not depend upon people—their witness or their praise—to validate his ministry. He has the approval of the Father; he does not need the approval of man.

Jesus will not change himself to be the kind of Messiah they wanted him to be in order to get them to praise him. (God is not in business of changing himself to suit the appetites and tastes of men. He is in the business of changing the appetites of men, so that they have a taste for him.)

It does not matter to Jesus whether people approve of him or not. He is committed to doing what the Father approves.

In verse 42, Jesus says that he knows they are different than he is. “But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.”

Jesus’ refusal to receive glory from people flows from his intimate knowledge of people. He needs no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knows what is in man. He loves God, but they do not.

In verse 43, Jesus gives evidence that they do not love God. He says, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me.”

His ministry was sanctioned by the Father—he came in his name. If they loved God the Father, then they would receive the one sent in his name.

Later, John will write in 1 John 5:3, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” And in 1 John 3:23, he tells us what his commandments are, when he writes, “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”

If you do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who the Father sent to be the King and Savior, then you are disobeying God’s commandments. If you disobey God’s commandment, then you do not love God. (John’s logic comes from Jesus’ words!)

Another Messiah

Jesus goes on, “If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.”

They reject the one the Father has sent. However, they will receive another—a false Messiah—who comes in his own name—that is, one who derives his credibility from what he has to offer in himself, not from what God the Father says of him.

They reject the true Christ and receive “antichrists.” That is what happens to people when they value what makes people happy more than what pleases God. They can understand and appreciate those who operate in that economy.

What they cannot accept is a Messiah who pursued only God’s glory and not theirs.

Cannot Believe

Therefore, in verse 44, Jesus asks a rhetorical question: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” The answer to that question is implied: “You can’t.”

“Believe” here means to “trust,” to put your full reliance upon something. This is the goal of John’s Gospel—“putting your complete trust and hope” in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. That is impossible for them, given their state of heart. It is impossible for a person who values the glory of man over the glory of God to have saving faith in Jesus Christ.

A person cannot have genuine trust in Jesus when it is their habit to seek approval from people and not to seek the approval of the only God.

A person cannot believe in Jesus—the glory of the Father—when they care more about what people think and feel than about what is pleasing to God. This is because human beings—in their natural, sinful state—do not approve of what God approves of. Therefore, if you value most the approval of man, you will never be able to give your life to the biblical Jesus Christ.

Thus, Jesus now reveals the reason he is so confident that they do not love God (in verse 42)—they seek glory from people rather than from God.

This is not to say that Christians do not struggle with seeking the approval of man. However, Jesus teaches here that an overriding concern for the approval of man that ultimately outweighs concern for the approval of God is damning evidence of a heart that does not love God and is incapable of believing in Jesus Christ.

You cannot be a Christian if you are more concerned with the praise of men than the praise of God. You cannot be a Christian if you care more about people being happy than with God being pleased.

Your Heart?

Check your heart—what do you love?

Here is a challenge to those of you who are not Christians, who will not profess faith in Jesus Christ. Do you love the glory that comes from God more than you love the glory that comes from man?

There may be some here this morning who will not follow Jesus Christ, who will not repent and believe in him because to do so means losing the approval of man. If you confess Jesus Christ and are baptized as his follower, then your family will disown you and your friends will mock you.

You must now decide what you will love more. Do you love most the glory and approval of man? Then you will go on disbelieving in and disobeying Jesus Christ—without eternal life.

But if, friend, you will value God’s approval more than that of man—that is, if you love God supremely—then you will leave your sins, take up your cross and follow Jesus. It may cost you your family and your friends, but in the end you will gain eternal life.

This is also a challenge to those of us who are Christians: Which drives us—the approval of man or the approval of the only God?

It is the question that we must ask…:

…in our evangelism. Will I shrink from declaring the gospel in my home, school or workplace because I want people to like me more than I want to please God?

…in our parenting. Is my goal in parenting to raise my children so that they like me and consider me their friend and their friends think I’m “cool”? Or, will I raise my children in the ways approved of by God?

…in our personal relationships. Is my goal for people to be happy and approve of me or for God to be glorified? When controversies and conflicts arise in your life—are you more concerned about the people being happy or about God being glorified?

…in our church life. Will we preach a “Gospel” calculated to please people? Or, will we preach the Gospel “approved of by God”—a stone of stumbling and offense?

The American church lives and breathes “the glory that comes from man.” There is no higher validation in American Christianity than “numbers” and “sales” and “attendance.” If you try to evaluate anything these days by searching the word of God to see if it is “approved of by God,” what response will you get? “But look at how many people are helped and happy! But it has sold this many copies! But it won a Dove-award!” We bow to the idol of the glory that comes from people.

This is why people are so eager to follow the false gospel of “health, wealth and prosperity,” which is an epidemic in America. Americans can appreciate a gospel that promises them “health, wealth and prosperity.” Those are things that have the approval of man. They cannot appreciate is a Holy God who calls them to repent of their sin, trust in a crucified and risen King, and take up their cross and die to have eternal life—the gospel that has the approval of God.

…as a pastor. This is something that I, personally, must constantly battle as a pastor. I had lunch with a dear brother on Monday who had enough genuine Christian love for me to say—“Here is one of your biggest weaknesses as a pastor—you worry too much about what people think of you, and it shows. You are gifted and called by God to do your job. Are you doing what God has called you to do? Are you leading how God has called you to lead? Are you preaching what God has called you to preach? If yes, then quit worrying about what people will think, and do your job.” And, he was right.

That was Monday. Then, on Thursday, I got a note from my godly wife, which began with 1 Corinthians 4:1-5:

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

Then she wrote: “…it is difficult to bear criticism that isn’t true….They don’t have all the information. But God knows and when he comes he will disclose the purposes of your heart. Your actions and motives will be vindicated, and you will be commended.”

That is what a good brother in Christ and a good wife do—they look you in the eye and say, “Quit worrying about the approval of man and seek the glory that comes from the only God!”

What about you? Whose approval are you seeking in your “Christianity”? Are you willing to hear Jesus’ rebuke and repent? Are you willing to rebuke man-fearers for the sake of their soul?

The Prosecutor

Well, it might sound as if Jesus is making a case against them. However, we were told in John 3:17 that Jesus was sent to save, not to condemn the world. Therefore, he says, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father.” Not Jesus, but Moses will accuse them.

The Jews took great pride in Moses. He mediated the Sinai Covenant on their behalf, bringing them the law. Some Jews even believed that Moses continued to intercede to God on their behalf, as he did in the wilderness. They set their hope on him!

Moses will not be Israel’s intercessor, but their prosecutor. Moses, as the lawgiver, knew the true purpose of the law—to point to Christ. Therefore, he is able to accuse the Jews.

In verse 46, Jesus gives the reason why Moses will accuse them: “for he wrote of me.” Moses will accuse them before God because, while they claimed to hope in Moses, they did not believe his writings, which were about Jesus Christ.

The Jews had not simply broken one, two or ten of the commandments given through Moses. They misunderstood the whole thing.

They took the covenant as a life-giving end in itself—and not as a witness to the Messiah.

If they had really believed what Moses wrote, they would have recognized themselves as sinners and recognized Jesus as their Savior!

No Moses, No Jesus

If they don’t believe Moses’ writings when he writes about Jesus, then they stand no chance of believing Jesus himself.

The issue that divides Jesus and these Jews cannot be resolved. They do not believe the Scriptures. Therefore, they will not believe him.

Jesus is showing us that he is not introducing a fork in the road of Judaism—two possible paths. He is showing the only path—faith in the Messiah. Those who have faith, who believe what Moses wrote, will follow Jesus. Those who will not believe him, have no faith at all.

Conclusion

And so, I ask you again:

• Do you study the Scriptures? And when you do, do they cause you to hope in Jesus Christ?
• Do you receive the one approved of by God, Jesus Christ as the Anointed King, who died for sins and was raised from the dead—even if it will cost you the glory that comes from man?

If you do, then you have eternal life.

If you will not, then one day, just as Moses will accuse the unbelieving Jews, the Apostle John, whose writings you heard this morning, will rise up and accuse you to the Father, because you would not believe.

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[1] As quoted in Kostenberger, John.