THE VALIDITY OF JESUS
John 5:16-47
1) Like Father, like Son (vs. 16-30).
• Jesus is equal to the Father (vs. 16-18). Vs. 16-17-God created in six days and rested on the seventh. However, he didn’t rest from preserving and maintaining his creation. He governs the affairs of his people and his creation 24/7. Could Jesus have healed the cripple any other day? Of course; but he healed him on the Sabbath to illustrate that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. It is always right to do good on the Sabbath, as the Father does. Love doesn’t take a day off. The true essence of the Sabbath, not working, was a test as much as it was a rest. A test for the people to trust in God. What Jesus did on the Sabbath was not in violation of the Sabbath, it was in fulfillment of the true intention of the Sabbath. Working-not for personal gain but for someone else's good. Vs. 18-The Jews would refer to God as the Father or our Father in heaven so as not to over-personalize it. So, when Jesus came along calling God my Father that was taking things too far. It was Jesus elevating himself to a deified level. “Equal with God”. Jesus is referred to as “the only begotten son of God”. C. S. Lewis pointed out that the word begotten demands that Jesus is God, because we only beget in kind with what we are: Humans beget humans and God begets God. Men and women are said to become God’s children through adoption, but Jesus is never spoken of as becoming God’s son, but that he’s always been God’s son. Just as Son of Man means that Jesus is fully human, the phrase Son of God means that Jesus is fully God. Colossians 2:9, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”
• Jesus does what the Father does (vs. 19-23). The Father does miraculous things; Jesus does miraculous things. Vs. 21-The Father raised the dead in the examples of Elijah raising the widow’s son-1st Kings 17:22-23 as well as Elisha raising the Shunamite’s son in 2nd Kings 4:32-37. As the Father raised the dead to life; so the Son does as well (Lazarus in John 11, the little girl in Mark 5, and the widow’s son in Luke 7). The examples of Jesus raising people from the dead highlights that he is equal to the father; having the same power and authority-even over death itself. Vs. 23-To have Jesus say that anyone that does not honor him does not honor the Father shows that he is equal with God for we are not to worship the created just the Creator. Therefore, Jesus, like the Father, is the Creator.
• In the Father is life; in the Son is life (vs. 24-30). The Jews would’ve attained that the gift of life was found only in God so when Jesus made the claim that life was found in him as well it yet again signified his equality with God. Vs. 24-Jesus is emphatically declaring that if one was to possess eternal life it was not find in observance of the law but in him. 1st John 5:13, “I write things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Vs. 25-“dead will hear the voice”. It makes sense because when Jesus raised Lazarus, and others, to life he spoke to them. Vs. 28-29- Not only would Jesus raise people from the dead with his voice in the near future, but in the distant future as well. 1st Th. 4:16, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Jesus said, ‘Do not be amazed at this’. He didn’t say this because raising someone from the dead isn’t amazing; it is a spectacular event. He said it because we shouldn’t think it to be unbelievable-because of the fact that Jesus is God.
2) Testimonials (vs. 31-47).
• The testimony of the Father (vs. 31-32). Vs. 31-not that Jesus’ testimony is untrustworthy or false but that it would not be accepted without further validation. Jesus understood that making the great claim to be equal with the Father needed to be backed up with valid testimony. Deuteronomy 19:15 said that a matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Vs. 32- “There is another who testifies” Jesus was referring to the Father. Three times the Father audibly spoke to Jesus directly from heaven: (1) at Jesus’ baptism-Matt. 3:17, "This is My Son, whom I love; with him I am well-pleased", (2) at the transfiguration-Mt. 17:5-where he said the same, (3) at the Triumphal Entry-John 12:28 where Jesus asked the Father to glorify thy name and the Father answered him that he has glorified it. 1ST John 5:6-12. The Father has testified for his Son.
• The testimony of John the Baptist (vs. 33-35). In John 1:19 the Pharisees sent people to John to see if he was the Messiah, they wanted to know who he was.
His response was found in John 1:23 where he said, "I am a voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’." He quotes from Isaiah 40:3. The Pharisees understood what John was implying when he quoted this passage. These words introduce the great closing section of the prophecy of Isaiah (chapters 40-66). These chapters are full of rich promises and revelations about the coming Messiah. By implication, John by quoting this opening prophecy is saying that he is fulfilling it. He is announcing the approaching fulfillment of that whole section of Isaiah. John’s testimony about Jesus should have been enough for many of the religious leaders who believed in John. John was the “lamp” that gave light and that light was Christ. The term “lamp” was in common use to denote a distinguished hero or teacher. The Rabbis were called “lamps of the Law”. David was called the ‘Lamp of Israel” (2 Sam 21:17) Jesus was the light (John 1:8), John was the lamp that carried the light. John said in 1:34, “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” Vs. 35-“you chose”. The Jews had chosen to accept that John was a prophet. But when John spoke against them their joy dissipated and they turned on him. They may have rejoiced in John’s declaration of the coming Messiah because they were looking for a deliverance from Roman rule. But when Jesus came offering a spiritual deliverance instead of a militaristic one their joy subsided and changed into wrath. So, although it appeared that they received the testimony of John the Baptist, technically they really hadn’t.
• The testimony of scripture (vs. 36-47). Jesus had testimony weightier than that of John because he had the testimony of the Father plus he had the testimony of his own miracles (one of which they were criticizing right now). Nicodemus had recognized the validity of Jesus’ miracles as a testimony John 3:1-2. Jesus also had the testimony of the scriptures. Luke shows a fascinating story about how the Scriptures reveal Jesus. In Luke 24, after his resurrection Jesus comes to Emmaus and encounters the two on the road. They didn’t notice him and they were stating that they weren’t sure whether Jesus had resurrected or not. Jesus rebuked them. Luke 24:25-27. Vs. 38-39. The Jews had studied the scriptures yet they didn’t have the scriptures in their heart for they rejected Jesus. The Jews who had studied the scriptures diligently completely missed the main point of the scriptures. It is like the story about an 18-year-old boy who was deeply interested in scientific subjects, especially astronomy. So his father bought him a very expensive telescope. Since the young fellow had also studied optics, he found the instrument to be most intriguing. He took it apart, examined the lenses, and made detailed calculations on the distance of its point of focus. He became so absorbed in gaining a technical knowledge of the telescope itself that he never got around to looking at the stars. He knew a lot about that fine instrument, but he missed seeing the wonders of the heavens. To study the tool and miss the purpose of the tool is the same as studying the scriptures and missing the purpose of them. The Jews weren’t wrong in studying the scriptures; we should be diligently studying the scriptures too (the Bereans-Acts 17:11). What they were wrong in was not having eyes to see Jesus in the scriptures. As Warren Wiersbe said, “The Jewish scribes sought to know the Word of God, but they did not know the God of the Word!” Knowing God’s word doesn’t mean you know God. They knew the word of God but it had no power for them because it had not penetrated their hearts. Why couldn’t they see Jesus? Vs. 40 explains that they refused to come to him. Therefore, it wasn’t that they couldn’t see Jesus in the scriptures but that they weren’t willing to. They read the scriptures not to diligently search for God but to diligently search for what would uphold their preconceived ideas and desires. They held their salvation on the basis of knowing the bible instead of knowing Jesus; the one prophesied about in the bible. Their pride kept them from being willing to see that this Jesus that stood before them, the Jesus that went after their abuse of the law, the Jesus that would rather sit and eat with “sinners” than with them is the same Jesus who is the fulfillment of the scriptures they so diligently studied. They were like those Paul spoke about in 2nd Tim. 3:7, “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” Their pride kept them from accepting the validity of Jesus. And sadly, this pride would keep them from having life. Same as us. Pride allows people to twist scripture into saying what they want it to say rather than what it does say. Pride keeps people from coming to Jesus that they may have life. It’s not that they can’t come; it’s that they won’t come. Vs. 41-42-the Jews would appear to others as valid but Jesus knew better; he knew what was in their hearts. Jesus said that he didn’t accept praise from men; he didn’t base his validity on how he was viewed by men. His validity was established by the Father and testified about in the scriptures and by the ones who genuinely knew him. The religious leaders didn’t count him as valid but he was. People would have counted the Jews Jesus was speaking to as valid but they weren’t; all because of what was in their hearts. It could be the same with us. We might appear to have the love of God in our hearts based on how religious we are but on the inside there is no love of God. We can go to church and miss Jesus. We can read the bible and miss the point of the bible. Reading and applying are two different things. We can be like these Jews who think that by studying and knowing the bible that that is what puts us in God’s favor. If so we’re missing it. If we think because we come to church that that puts us in God’s favor we’re wrong. If the love of God is not in our hearts then everything else we are doing that makes us think the love of God is in our hearts is really hurting us; not helping us. Hurting us not because in and of themselves they are wrong but because we are viewing them in an improper way. To qualify, there are those who come to church and study the bible that don’t yet have the love of God in their hearts but they are searching; they’re not closed. I’m talking about those who think that by doing such things they have the love of God in their hearts; that by going through the religious motions that gives them life. Instead of truly having recognized that only through Jesus do they have eternal life. Vs. 43-here Jesus points out an absurdity. Here I come, the one who has fulfilled prophecy, the one in whom there is nothing false and yet you won’t believe in me. However, if someone else comes along, who does not have the credentials that I have, you believe him instead. Why? Perhaps it was because they spoke only what you agreed with. Perhaps because they spoke what you wanted to hear; they didn’t challenge you on anything. Whoever is praising you; this is the one who gets your stamp of approval? Your criterion for validity is severely flawed. We will accept someone who tells us what we want to hear. We will accept someone who looks good and sounds good. But when Jesus (or a fellow believer) comes, exposing and dealing with the sin within, when he challenges us with what will be difficult to accept or apply we dismiss him because we don’t like what we’re hearing. 2nd Tim. 4:3-4, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” What is the criterion for validity? On what basis do we consider someone credible? Is it their financial status? Their looks? How they're viewed by certain members of society? Because they hold a certain position? Vs. 44-If their desire is in receiving the praise that comes from each other rather than the praise that comes from God they will never look to God for approval, nor will they ever get it. If we focus on how we look in each other’s eyes as the criteria for acceptance and success then we will not care to look to Jesus. If we compare ourselves to one another and deduce that we’re okay compared to so-and-so then we will never humbly come to Jesus, to compare ourselves to him and seek his standards. Vs. 45-47-Jesus points to the one who they had their hopes in as their accuser-Moses. They accepted Moses’ testimony, but yet Moses accepted Jesus as valid. Therefore, Jesus says that really, they don’t believe in what Moses wrote because he wrote about Jesus, whom they wouldn’t accept. Moses speaks about Jesus in all five books he’s credited with: Genesis through Deuteronomy. They accepted the law of Moses but by their breaking of the law (in letter as well as in spirit); they will be accused and judged by it.
CONCLUSION: Two questions: •Is Jesus who He claims to be? •If so, what have you done about it? We need to see Jesus as he is: the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. He is the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We’re left with the choice of concluding that Jesus was either a deeply disturbed person with delusions of grandeur-in which case he deserves our pity, or he’s purposefully lying about who he is-in which case he deserves our condemnation, or he’s really who he claims to be-in which case he deserves our lives.
