Amen. Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in John chapter 5.
! John chapter 5, our text for today is verses 31 through 47.
! Before reading our text, I want to give you the simple outline for our study this morning,
and I'll link the introduction. I think it'll take us a little time to get through.
So, first the outline. We will see in these verses, this closing portion of chapter 5,
witnesses to Jesus. There are a number of them. Witnesses to Jesus the Christ and rejection of
Jesus the Christ. The Scriptures contain within them a redemptive storyline. It is a magnificent
story of a loving God saving an undeserving people for the glory of His name. Tragically,
part of this narrative arc includes rebellion against God's loving kindness, particularly
on the part of Israel. We trace this all throughout the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah pictures
Israel's unfaithfulness in a parable in Isaiah chapter 5, verses 1 through 7.
Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very
fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines. He built a watchtower
in the midst of it and hewed out a wine vat in it, and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do
for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
And now I tell you that what I will do to my vineyard, I will remove its hedge and it shall be devoured. I will break down
its wall and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste. It shall not be pruned or hoed and briars and thorns
shall grow up. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting. And he looked for justice, but behold,
bloodshed. For righteousness, but behold, an outcry. Now although Israel was guilty of persistently
forsaking God, he remained and remains loving toward them. He has yet to cease his kindness to ethnic Israel.
See Romans 9 through 11. And he is broadening his kindness to all peoples, spiritual Israel.
Paul writes in Romans chapter 9, verse 6 and following after expressing great grief for those
Jewish people that rejected Jesus as the Christ. But it is not as though the word of God has failed,
for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. And not all are children of Abraham
because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means it is not
the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted
as offspring. So those who are not ethnically Jewish being grafted into Israel by God's grace.
God expresses his great love in redeeming wayward, undeserving rebels. This is so beautifully pictured
in the life of the prophet Hosea, who was instructed by God to marry a woman named Gomer, who is unfaithful.
He's told this at the outset. She will not be faithful to you. She has children by other men.
She abandons Hosea and is eventually an indentured slave. Hosea and Gomer's lives are pageantry meant to teach
us about God's faithfulness in juxtaposition, in comparison to unfaithfulness. The story of Hosea and
Gomer find its climax in chapter 3 of Hosea. This is the entirety of that chapter.
And the Lord said to me, Go again. Love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress,
even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes
of raisins. So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and a homer and a lethic of barley. This was a massive
sum. And I said to her, You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore or belong to another man.
So will I also be to you. For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or
pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God
and David their king. And they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
It is to a rebellious, Christ-rejecting people that Jesus ministered and John writes to.
Many of us have received Jesus, the Christ. We have believed in his name for the salvation of our souls.
Praise God for his great mercy to us. Justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.
Declared righteous before God because we are found in Christ. We are one with him. What a glorious reality.
Be counted this day among those who have and are in Christ. Who have recognized him as the anointed one.
Do not find yourself among those who reject Jesus, the Christ. Whose perfect life, sacrificial death, and third day resurrection
grants eternal life to all who will believe in him. That's what this text sets before us today, as many of John's writings do.
So John chapter 5, verse 31 through 47. Join me in prayer before I read it.
Father God, thank you for your word this morning. It's such a privilege to be together
and to be able to open up this ancient text and have it speak to us today.
We recognize that it was written for your glory and for our good.
And we know that we need your help to rightly understand it.
Father, we want to believe its promises and we want to obey its commands.
And we want to have affection for you, its author.
Would you work this in us this day as we study together?
And we pray this for the glory of Christ. Amen.
Begin reading in verse 31.
Jesus says,
He says,
And it is they that bear witness about me, that you refuse to come to me, that you may have life.
I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do not 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 own name, you will receive him.
How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
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.
For if you believed Moses, you would believe me.
For he wrote of me.
But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?
Now, yesterday, at our men's morning meeting, I was made fun of for pointing out the literary structures of John,
and it got a real good laugh.
So, I'm not going to talk about chiastic structure this morning.
I'm kidding.
I am talking about chiastic structure this morning.
You all should know that my skin is thick, especially when it comes to teaching you something that I am confident is good for your souls.
Now, I should have done so from the beginning to help you see the structure more clearly.
So, this morning, I have included a short outline in your bulletin to just make this point further.
So, you have it there in front of you.
Which, by the way, the weird lines across it are no feature of the bulletin,
but a goofy thing the copier is doing that I didn't have time to fix yesterday.
So, ignore the line struck through the bulletin, but notice, under your sermon notes section,
you've heard me talk in this term, chiastic structure.
So, now you can see the half of the X there.
It's from the Greek letter chi for X.
And how the beginning section corresponds with the last section.
So, you see a true testimony that comes from John the Baptist,
and then a true accusation that comes from Moses.
A, and then A prime.
Then notice B, verses 34 and 35.
A testimony not received from man,
and then glory not received from man,
in verses 41 and 44.
I hope this helps you see the way that Jesus is speaking and John is recording.
Why does it feel so disjointed to us as we read it through?
It's a literary structure,
and it's meant to draw our attention somewhere.
So, then you go on, right?
You've got the work or the works that Jesus is doing,
and the Father testifying in verses 36 and the first part of 37.
And then in verses 39 and 40,
the Scriptures testifying.
The central part of this text,
the center of the chiasm,
is the last part of verse 37 and verse 38.
So, what do we do with that?
We pick the lens,
and we look at the rest of the text, right?
And again, you wouldn't have to see this to understand this.
I'm not suggesting that I'm giving to you some special code, right?
That you can lay this filter on top of any text,
and suddenly it's going to just be totally unlocked for you.
I think if you're being faithful to the text,
and you're giving it a fair reading,
you're going to pick up that there's testimony being given,
and there's rejection happening.
But this helps us to see that what's being communicated
is particularly this rejection.
To really note what's going on in the center of this very text.
So, with that in mind,
first point of the outline for today is,
number one, witnesses to Jesus, the Christ.
We see a number of them in this text.
You know, you remember, right,
for Christ, for Jesus to be the Christ,
he's the anointed one.
You see also the Hebrew word Messiah,
the one who's promised in the Old Testament,
who's going to come and take away the sin of the world,
who's going to liberate God's people.
Lots of misunderstandings about what that meant.
But the people that are being talked to here in this text
had some understanding that there was one who was going to come.
One who was going to reign in the line of David forever.
And they were sensitive to this.
They're highly concerned about who this Jesus is.
He's not the first person who would come and said he was the Christ.
There had been rebellions led against Rome
that were brutally squashed
in the name of the Christ.
They're rightly concerned.
Is this Jesus actually the Messiah?
And they just fail to see that he actually is.
You may remember earlier in the chapter,
chapter 5 and verse 18,
we see the record.
This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him.
Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,
he had healed a man, a lame man,
at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath.
But he was even calling God his own father,
making himself equal with God.
If Jesus wasn't God,
then this would have been a great blasphemy.
They would have been right to seek justice in the matter.
But he is.
In the verses that follow,
verse 18 of chapter 5,
John records Jesus doubling down on the fact that he is God.
Never shrinks back from this reality.
And then we arrive at verse 31,
verse 31,
where he says,
if I alone bear witness about myself,
my testimony is not true.
Is he saying that as God,
incarnate God,
that everything he says isn't true?
Of course not.
But for the sake of people's salvation,
he's saying,
look,
on your terms,
if a man claims something about himself,
he better bring some witnesses along.
And then we get this laid out for us,
these varied witnesses to Jesus,
the Christ.
First we see John the Baptist,
verses 32 through 35.
There's a bit of debate in verse 32
whether or not the one who bears witness about him,
if he's referring to John,
or if he's referring to God.
It's not terribly important.
I lean off in the John the Baptist direction.
But some would say that Jesus is saying,
I know that the testimony he bears about me is true,
is referring to the testimony he'll later refer to
concerning God the Father.
But either way,
there's another one who's giving testimony.
And certainly in verse 33,
he says,
you sent to John,
and he has borne witness to the truth.
Now I'm pretty sure when he says,
you sent to John,
he's referring to something that we have recorded for us
back in John chapter 1.
So if you want to turn back a couple of pages
and look at verse 19 of John chapter 1.
There John records of John the Baptist,
different Johns,
and this is the testimony of John.
This is verse 19.
When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem
to ask him,
who are you?
That's the thing I believe he's referring to.
Right?
You sent to John.
Right there we see in verse 19 of chapter 1.
The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem
to ask him,
who are you?
John confessed and did not deny,
but confessed,
I am not the Christ.
And they asked him,
what then?
Are you Elijah?
He said,
I am not.
Are you the prophet?
And he answered,
no.
So they said to him,
who are you?
We need to give an answer to those who sent us.
What do you say about yourself?
He said,
I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.
Make straight the way of the Lord,
as the prophet Isaiah said.
Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.
They asked him,
then why are you baptizing,
if you are neither the Christ,
nor Elijah,
nor the prophet?
John answered them,
I baptize with water,
but among you stands one you do not know.
Even he who comes after me,
the strap of whose sandals,
I am not worthy to untie.
John the Baptist's witness to Christ
was that he was the forerunner of Christ.
He's preparing the way for the Messiah.
Later in the chapter,
he sees Jesus and he says,
behold,
the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world.
Jesus goes on in verse 34 of chapter 5,
not that the testimony that I received
is from man,
but I say these things
so that you may be saved.
They're such frail,
mental beings.
There was an earthly witness,
someone who came,
someone you marveled at
who pointed to me
as the Christ.
He was a burning and shining lamp
and you were willing to rejoice
for a while in his light.
Something was going on
with this John the baptizer
and you were willing to heed
what he had to say
for some time.
This is most likely a reference
to Psalm 132.
There we can read beginning in verse 11,
the Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back.
One of the sons of your body
I will set on your throne.
If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies
that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne.
For the Lord has chosen Zion.
He has desired it
for his dwelling place.
This is my resting place forever.
Here I will dwell
for I have desired it.
I will abundantly bless
her provisions.
I will satisfy her poor
with bread.
Her priests I will clothe
with salvation
and her saints
will shout for joy.
There I will make a horn
to sprout for David.
I have prepared a lamp
for my anointed.
I think that's the reference
going on here.
John the Baptist
is the lamp
of Psalm 132
and verse 17.
One meant to give light
to the coming
of the light
of the world.
So we see
John the Baptist
as a witness
to Jesus the Christ.
We also see
Jesus' works.
Every time that Jesus
is performing a miracle,
it's a miracle
that's given to him
by the Father
to do,
to testify
to the fact
that he is God.
That he exercises
dominion
over illness,
over creation,
over sin.
Again and again
and again
it sets a stage
for Jesus
to be shown
to be
the Christ.
And again and again
there's conflict
over it.
People miss it.
They want the signs
but they don't want
the one performing
the signs.
And John's narrative
is told in this way.
We see a miracle
and then we see teaching
and then we see a miracle
and then we see teaching.
And we're in that
teaching portion now
following that
miraculous healing
of the lame man
at the pool of Bethesda.
Verse 36.
He says,
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.
I am from the Father.
I am doing the works
that the Father
is doing.
We read earlier
in the chapter
and this bears witness
that I am God.
I am the Messiah.
The Christ.
Jesus' works
bear witness.
We also see
witness to the Christ
of the Father.
There in the beginning
of verse 37.
Jesus says,
And the Father
who sent me
has himself
borne witness
about me.
Now, Jesus' baptism
is referenced
by John the Baptist
in chapter 1.
But the details
of the event
are not mentioned
in John's Gospel.
It is likely
at the later date
of this Gospel's writing
that the details
were so commonly known
that the reference
to it was merely enough.
But for our sake,
listen to Matthew 3,
verse 16 and 17.
When Jesus was baptized,
immediately he went up
from the water
and behold,
the heavens were opened
to him
and he saw
the Spirit of God
descending like a dove
and coming
to rest on him.
And behold,
a voice from heaven
said,
I'm suggesting to you
this is what he's
referring to,
right?
Has himself
borne witness
about me.
A voice from heaven
said,
This is my
beloved son
with whom
I am well pleased.
Understood.
This is
the
Christ.
So the Father himself,
God the Father
has borne witness
to God
the Son.
We also see,
if we jump down
a couple verses
to verse 39,
the Scriptures
bear witness
to Jesus
as the Christ.
Here Jesus says,
You search
the Scriptures
because you think
that in them
you have eternal life.
And it is they
that bear witness
about me.
He's going to
reference the words
of Moses later,
being about
him.
Luke records
the resurrected
Jesus
conversing
with two
doubting disciples
as they
travel to a place
called Emmaus.
You may be
familiar.
In Luke
chapter 24
verse 25
and following,
Jesus says to them,
O foolish ones,
and slow of heart
to believe
all that the
prophets
have spoken.
Was it not
necessary
that the Christ
should suffer
these things
and enter
into his glory?
They're terribly
concerned that
the one who said
he was the Christ
died.
And then verse 27
says,
And beginning
with Moses
and all the
prophets,
that is to say,
the Scripture
of Jesus' day,
Moses and all
the prophets,
he interpreted
to them
in all the
Scriptures
the things
concerning
himself.
Every bit
of the Bible,
the entire text,
points us
to the person
and work
of Jesus Christ.
The Scriptures
bear witness
to Jesus
as the Christ.
And then lastly,
the last witness
is Moses,
verses 45
and 46.
Jesus says,
Don't think I will
accuse you to the Father?
There is one
who accuses you,
Moses,
on whom you have
set your hope.
Old covenant
obedience to the law.
This is not the place
for hope.
For if you believed
Moses,
you would believe me.
For he wrote
of me.
Moses was a forerunner
of Christ
who would come.
So there's all
this witness
and that's the point
that Jesus is making here.
You've had
all the advantage
laid before you.
All of this
testimony
to who I am
and yet
he is
rejected.
So let's look at that.
The rejection
of Jesus
the Christ.
Again,
that central part
of our chiastic structure.
The last part
of verse 37
and verse 38.
Jesus says,
His voice
you have never heard.
His form
you have never seen
and you do not
have his word
abiding in you.
He's talking about
God the Father.
For you do not believe
the one
whom he
has sent.
the Christ.
You do not believe
him.
There's this
indictment issued.
Jesus says
to this Jewish
audience
rejecting him
as the Christ
and it's
threefold.
The first,
he says,
His voice
you
have never heard.
They are
unlike
Moses
in this way.
Right?
One of their patriarchs.
are unlike
Moses
who heard
God's
voice.
Right?
Who met with him
on the mountain.
Exodus
chapter 33
and verse
11.
Those who reject
Jesus,
the Christ,
have never
heard
God's
voice.
Because
Jesus
speaks
the words
of God.
Earlier in our text,
I read of you
John chapter 5
in verse 18.
The verse that
follows at verse 19.
Jesus says
to them,
Truly,
truly,
I say to you,
the Son can do
nothing of his
own accord,
but only what
he sees the
Father doing.
For whatever
the Father does,
that the Son
does likewise.
And you could
see in that
what he speaks
as well.
But in case
that's too vague,
later in
John's gospel
in chapter 12
and verse 49,
Jesus says,
For I have not
spoken on my
own authority,
but the Father
who sent me
has himself
given me
a commandment.
What to say
and what to speak.
Jesus speaks
the very words
of God,
and if we
reject Jesus
as the Christ,
then we reject
God himself.
So his voice
you have never
heard is the
first point
of the indictment.
The second
is his form
you have never
seen.
Unlike
Jacob,
another
Jewish patriarch
who wrestled
with God
and said in
Genesis 32
and verse
30,
there it says,
So Jacob
called the name
of the place
Peniel,
saying,
For I have
seen God
face to face,
and yet my
life
has been
delivered.
You don't
know him
because you're
not accepting
me.
That's the second
part of the
indictment.
The third
part of it,
and you do
not have his
word abiding
!
in you.
Unlike,
say,
Joshua,
another patriarch
who was commanded,
Joshua chapter 1
verse 8 and 9,
This book of the law
shall not depart
from your mouth,
but you shall
meditate on it
day and night
so that you may
be careful to do
according to all
that is written
in it.
For then you will
make your way
prosperous,
and then you
will have good
success.
Have I not
commanded you?
Be strong and
courageous,
do not be
frightened,
and do not
be dismayed,
for the Lord
your God
is with you
wherever you
go.
I'm going to
pick up this
idea of abiding
later on in
John's gospel,
but it means
to tarry along
with,
to travel in
your going,
you do not
have God's
word going
with you
because if
you did,
you would
see me,
the one
that it
testifies
to.
The last part
of verse 48
says,
For you do
not believe
that you have
not seen
his form,
you do not
have his
word abiding
in you,
and the evidence
of that is
that you are
rejecting the
one that he
has sent.
after he
talks about
the scriptures
and their
diligent searching
of it and
trying to find
eternal life
in it,
he says in
verse 40,
Yet you
refuse to
come to
me that
you may
have life.
This book
is a
precious,
precious
book.
We are
just so
abundantly
blessed with
Bible in
our days.
the translations
that we
have,
just pick
one of the
good translations
and we are
more favored
amongst peoples
to have such
good access
to the
scripture.
And then we
replete with
them.
We have all
kinds of
great translations
and great
tools to
study.
It's all
so good
and so
precious,
but guys,
we miss
it if we
don't see
Christ on
its pages.
It's useless
to us if we
don't take
hold of
Jesus,
the Christ.
He says in
verse 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.
And it's
like he's
saying,
what's wrong
with you?
God has
sent me,
see me,
and receive
me.
So let's
think through
some applications
as we
consider this
text in
closing.
First,
receive the
witness God
has given.
Jesus is
not lacking
for testimony.
John the
Baptist bore
witness.
Jesus'
works bore
witness.
The Father
bore witness.
The Scriptures
continue this
day to bear
witness.
Moses bore
witness.
How much
more
confirmation
could God
possibly give?
Unbelief
is not an
intellectual
problem,
but it's a
moral one.
If you will
not come to
Christ,
it is not
because the
evidence is
weak,
but because
your heart
is hard.
I plead with
you this
morning.
Come to
Christ and
live.
If you
need to
learn more,
I'm
certainly
one of
them.
Receive the
witness that
God has
given.
Find eternal
life in
Christ.
Secondly,
if you're in
Christ,
beware a
Bible without
him.
We too
often go to
the Bible to
know things
about our
God and
not to
know our
God.
The Jews
searched the
scriptures
diligently,
but they
missed the
very one to
whom the
scriptures
pointed.
You can
read the
Bible,
you can
love theology,
study doctrine,
and still
perish if
Christ is
not your
Savior.
It's
altogether
possible to
know a
ton of
stuff and
not embrace
Christ for
the salvation
of your
soul.
it's
impossible,
I mean,
excuse me,
it's
possible to
master the
text and
miss the
Savior.
The ultimate
question is
not do I
know the
Bible, but
rather do I
know the
one that
the Bible
reveals.
Thirdly and
lastly,
delight in
the glory
of Christ.
Verse 44
says,
how can you
believe when
you receive
glory from
one another?
You're
willing to
prop each
other up
and give
each other
attaboys and
say way to
go.
And do
not seek
the glory
that comes
from the
only God.
He talked
about being
sent by
God,
Jesus,
right?
The glory
of Christ
is the way
that we
behold the
glory of
God.
God, what a
precious thing
this is that
we ought to
delight in.
John says in
chapter 17
that eternal
life is to
know God
and the
one whom
he has
sent.
This is
astounding.
I don't
fully comprehend
all that it
means.
I think we'll
spend our
lives trying
to know
God
imperfectly
so that
one day
we will
know him
perfectly.
John Owen
once wrote
in his book
The Glory
of Christ,
which if
you've ever
tried to
read Owen,
you may
never try
to read
Owen again.
If you'd
like to
read Owen,
some of his
writing is
really difficult.
This is the
book to start
with,
The Glory
of Christ.
It's the
simplest of
his writing
and it's
a rich,
rich read.
He said
this though,
quote,
Make up
your mind
that to
behold the
glory of
God by
beholding
the glory
of Christ
is the
greatest
privilege
which is
given to
believers
in this
life.
Let me
read that
first part
again.
Make up
your minds
that to
behold the
glory of
God by
beholding
the glory
of Christ
is the
greatest
privilege
which is
given to
believers
in this
life.
This is
the dawning
of heaven.
It is the
first taste
of that
heavenly glory
which God
has prepared
for us
for this
is
eternal
life
to know
the Father
and Jesus
Christ
whom he
has sent.
That's
John 17
and verse
3.
Let's pray
together.
here.