Scripture Introduction
“Seeing is believing,” or is it? Is “seeing, believing,” or is “believing, seeing”? A group of men stand meters from Jesus; they believe he is there; they know he exists; they see his miracles. Yet he says that they do not believe.
Earlier we read James’ indictment of faith without fruit. James 2.19-20: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?”
The Bible defines “believing” as more than a mere profession or even an orthodox statement of faith. “Come Ye Sinners” calls for “true belief and true repentance” — Jesus is after these in our lives.
Some of you know that true belief is the means by which people are saved. “True belief” is also the means by which we are changed, by which Christ “renews us by his Spirit to be like himself.” In theological language, “both salvation and sanctification are by grace alone through faith alone, and such faith is never alone, but produces good works.” And since faith is the means both of beginning and of growing in Christ-likeness, this text is relevant whether you are first considering the claims of Jesus or we have been his follower for years. If you would like to follow along, I will be reading John 5.30-47. [Pray.]
Introduction
Visiting the Sears Tower is a favorite Chicago activity for me. The race up 1,353 feet in one of the world’s fastest elevators is exhilarating. And when the doors open, you discover a fascinating museum of the history of this great city. But the real purpose and pleasure is the view from this highest observatory in the Western Hemisphere. On a clear day, you can see forty miles and four states (Illinois (obviously), Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin).
So you are there, taking in the view, watching the sun set, catching street lights appear on Michigan Avenue, looking for Wrigley Field, when a man comes up to you and says, “Amazing, isn’t it?”
“Yea,” you say, “Fantastic!”
“Yes,” he responds, “I have never seen glass this fine.”
“Excuse me?”
“The glass, the window—I noticed you were staring at it. Is it not beautifully set in this steel frame? And the tinting — just right to allow light in while reducing glare. Look here,” he says as he pulls out a screwdriver and pocket knife and begins to work at one corner of the window, “Under this rubber we can expose the serial number and the date it was manufactured. That will show what plant it was made in. Help me with this knife and we will scrape off some of the surface coating so I can do a chemical analysis. What is your phone number — I will call you as soon as I have completed my study and tell you the details of its composition.” [From Kent Hughes, John, 171, Crossway, modified.]
You expect to hear Allen Funt: “Smile, you’re on Candid Camera.”
The window does not exist to attract attention, but only to reveal other sights. The purpose of the windows is to show us Chicago. And the purpose of the Bible is to show us Messiah — God’s solution to sin and separation.
As Jesus notes (John 5.39), the Jews studied “the Scriptures.” [If you are unfamiliar with the word, “Scripture,” it comes from a Latin word, “scriptura.” Jesus did not speak Latin; the Greek word Jesus uses is graphás (from which we get “graphics” the writing down of something). Verse 39 literally says, “You search the writings….” In the New Testament, “the writings” always and only refers to the Jewish “sacred writings,” that which we call “The Old Testament.” When Jesus’ word was translated from Greek to Latin, they used “scriptura” from which we get “The Scriptures.”]
That tedious history lesson gets to this point: the Jews were people of the book. Nothing was more important to them that “the writings.” They scoured these Scriptures, searching what must be done to please God. They “pulled back the edges” to find the serial numbers and they “scraped” them to run chemical tests. And all their work was worthless because they missed the purpose.
When standing in the Skydeck of the Sears Tower, you can force your eyes to focus unnaturally and see the glass. But in so doing, you do not see the very thing the glass is for. So how could a people study so carefully the writings of God and miss the One about whom God wrote? How indeed.
That is precisely the problem Jesus preaches about in John 5. He speaks of three truths concerning belief. First, that we have every reason to believe. Second, why we have every reason not to believe. Then third, he gives us every reason to believe. Let’s look at these together, that we might understand how we can “truly believe.”
1. Because of the Witnesses to the Messiah, We Have Every Reason to Believe (John 5.30-39)
There is a story, claiming to be true, about a professor at the University of Southern California. An atheist, he used his philosophy class to “prove” God did not exist. Then on the last day of the semester he would say, “Anyone who still believes in God is a fool. If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking.” He dropped the chalk and it shattered on the hard classroom floor.
One year a freshman, a Christian, took the class. He had heard about this professor and he was afraid. For 3 months he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said or what the class thought.
Finally the day came. The professor said, “If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!” This young man was the only one in a class of 300 students to stand. The professor shouted, “You fool! If God existed, he could keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!”
He started to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleats of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. When it hit the ground, it rolled away, unbroken. The professor, shocked, ran from the lecture hall. The young man went to the front of the classroom and had the undivided attention of the students while he shared his faith in Jesus.
I’m generally doubtful of stories like that. They make too easy a sermon illustration. But it does remind me of how important is the question: “Why should we believe?” Jesus’ answer is that we should heed the many witnesses.
First, there is John the Baptist. Now Jesus admits, right up front, that John’s testimony is not what he relies on. John, like all men, is fallible. But the Jews, for a time, had been pretty impressed with him. They rejoiced (for a season) in his light.
D. A. Carson (Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School): “Both the New Testament and Josephus [a Jewish historian and contemporary of the Apostle John] record that the ministry of John the Baptist generated considerable messianic excitement. His announcement that ‘the Coming One’ was near, his insistence that the people of God prepare for his coming, his implicit announcement of the dawning of the promised kingdom, the divine salvation and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, however mingled with threats of judgment, provoked enthusiastic joy. If the Jews would remember that healthy response to John’s preaching and recognize in Jesus the one whom the Baptist announced, then John’s witness would prove extraordinarily fruitful” (261).
Of course the day came when John said something they did not like. As is so common in the church, the preacher was appreciated when he pleased the congregation, but they turned away when he challenged them. They reject John the Baptist.
So Jesus speaks of a greater witness — his works: “Look at the miracles I do; listen to the words I speak. These are no ordinary signs; they are works that no one else has done.” Completely unique, Jesus’ works were: 1) many in number, 2) great in magnitude, 3) public in proclamation, 4) compassionate in character and 5) visible and known to all. They bear the characteristics of the Messiah; they carry the stamp of divinity.
Third is the direct witness of God the Father. Jesus knows they will not respond favorably to this testimony, but since he has the witness of the Father, he is untroubled by the opposition of men.
Fourth, there are the Scriptures — from beginning to end the story of the Messiah. Many of the commentaries point out the extravagant efforts put into study of these writings.
Leon Morris (New Testament professor, Ridley College, Melbourne): “Here Jesus points out that they search the scriptures constantly (which we know from other sources they did, most diligently), thinking in this way to find eternal life. Had they rightly read the Scriptures they would no doubt have come to recognize the truth of His claims. But they read them with a wooden and superstitious reverence for the letter, and they never penetrated to the great truths to which they pointed. The result is that in the presence of Him to whom the Scriptures bear witness, in the presence of Him who could have given them life, thy are antagonistic. Jesus’ words convey a rebuke for the wrong attitude of the Jews to Scripture, coupled with a profound respect for the sacred writings” (331).
Like the person angered by setting a glass on the Bible, who yet never opens the book, so the Jews “worshiped” the writings yet were ignorant of its story.
Taken together, we have every reason to believe. We do not need a modern demonstration to prove God exists or that Jesus is the Messiah. The witnesses have testified; case closed! Because of the witnesses to the Messiah, we have every reason to believe. Yet many do not. Jesus explains why.
2. Because of the Ways of Mankind, We Have Every Reason Not to Believe (John 5.40-44)
The whole of the Bible has one author — God. The whole of the Bible is about one person — Jesus. Neither of those is particularly difficult to grasp. The really hard part is that God will not share his glory with another.
Psalm 115:1: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory….”
Charles Williams was a member of the Inklings, C. S. Lewis’ and Tolkien’s literary club. In one of his novels (The Place of the Lion) a character says: “It was good of you to look for Quentin…or good in you. How accurate one has to be with one’s prepositions! Perhaps it was a wrong preposition that set the whole world awry….”
It was, you know — one wrong preposition. “Good of you,” so that the goodness is yours; or “good in you,” coming from another? Adam and Eve wanted to do it themselves, and the same pride continues to drive us from God.
When the Jews searched the writings, they sought for a way to please God, a way to be good: “The Bible provides the standard; we will measure up.”
Romans 10.2-3: “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”
Any who would know God and find eternal life must be righteous, because God is holy. There are two options: good of you — you meet a standard and please God; or good in you — God provides an alien righteousness, the good works of Jesus. It sounds so easy to say that all you do is believe in Jesus, but think about what must be given up to truly come to faith:
• No longer can you look down at others, for your right to stand is based solely on the standing of Jesus.
• No longer can you feel self-righteous for your behavior, because your good is solely a gift of grace.
• No longer can you claim God’s blessing based on your rising early and having a quiet time, for your benefits are based solely on Jesus’ favor.
• No longer can you say, “At least I’m not as bad as so-and-so,” since you are denying any good is from you.
• No longer can you criticize others, for you know that but for the grace of God, so you would be.
• No longer can you feel smug about your theology or your obedience or your church membership, for whatever you have was received as a gift.
• No longer can your guilt spur you to earn your way back to God through the penance of refusing the Lord’s Supper, for your seat at the table is purely due to the gift of adoption.
Why did the Jews not believe? For the exact same reason, after you have had your feelings hurt, that you refuse to apologize to your wife and admit your selfishness — even though you know God promises to lift the humble. For the exact same reason I hate to ask for forgiveness from my children when I angrily yell at them. For the exact same reason we return to the temporary and guilt producing pleasures of sin.
Why? Because true belief denies honor to myself: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” Our sin natures hate true belief, because the end of faith is the end of self. We sang it earlier: “nor of fitness fondly dream; all the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of Him.”
Do you still dream of fitness? Do you still imagine that God is pleased with your obedience? Because of the pride of the human heart, we have every reason not to believe.
3. Because of the Weight of Moses, We Have Every Reason to Believe (John 5.45-47)
One day a little 7-year old boy said to his mommy, “I just measured myself — I’m 8 feet tall!” He had just learned that a ruler was one foot, but the ruler he found in his mommy’s sewing basket was one of those 6-inch ones. Thinking that all rulers were one foot long, he measured himself as 8 rulers tall — 8 feet!
If you read Moses properly, you will find that you don’t quite measure up to 8 feet. The law was not given as a standard by which you can please God. Two key passages that remind us of the true intent of the law.
Romans 5.20: Now the law came in to increase the trespass. [My heart is bent away from God; the law show me how badly it is so.]
Galatians 3.24: So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. [The law is given to show me God’s Messiah — both in showing me I cannot obey and showing that he does.]
Jesus reminds the Jews that they have not and cannot keep the commandments. The law they diligently search in order to earn life buries them under a mountain of sin and death. Moses did not write so that you would know how to please God; the writings are given so that you would know that you can never please God.
But do not despair — for God so loves the world that he gave his only son, a son who pleases the Father in every way, that all who believe in him might receive his pleasure as a gift of grace and be saved and changed.
4. Conclusion
Edward John Carnell writes (Christian Commitment): “Suppose a husband asks his wife if he must kiss her good night. Her answer is, ‘You must, but not that kind of must.’ What she means is this: ‘unless a spontaneous affection for my person motivates you, your overtures are stripped of all moral value’” (160). [Quoted in Piper, Desiring God.]
Must you do good works to enter heaven? Yes, but not that kind of must. Not the kind that says, “I don’t want to, but if I must, I will.” That will not do in kissing, and it will not do before God. What kind then?
The kind which is so convinced of the extravagance of the promises of God, that it truly believes that obedience is not a sacrifice — there are no sacrifices in God’s kingdom. Believe — and see if this is true: “there is no one who leaves house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands or sins, for Jesus’ sake and for the gospel, who does not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” Mark 10.29-30.
You think about that. Amen.
