When your world is in chaos, do you think life is random? When your world is a snow globe shaken in every direction, do you feel as if there is no one who is in control? In the midst of chaos, Jesus steps forward to say, “I’ve got this.” We begin a series entitled “This Is Your Captain Speaking.” If you have a copy of God’s Word, turn to John 5 with me, if you will. We continue our series of walking through the Gospel of John together.
Invitation
At the conclusion of today’s message, you will be invited to respond to Jesus’ offer of a clean, fresh start. You can respond by going to the Encourager’s Room, a virtual room, or the altar. If you would like someone to pray with you, we are here. We would love to meet with you personally.
Jesus began to encounter stiff opposition, and here’s why: “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).
Whenever you claim to be on equal footing with God, you better bring a strong resume. If you were found guilty of blasphemy in the Old Testament, the penalty was capital punishment.
Our passage has a courtroom feel to it. Jesus is going to marshal witness after witness to validate His credentials.
Today’s Scripture
“If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 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. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 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. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet 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?” (John 5:31-47).
What if you come and say, “Why should I believe Jesus Christ is God? I have trouble believing.” “I have trouble believing. Some people believe. I can’t believe.”
Remember that the Gospel of John was written: “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
This whole book was written to generate belief in Jesus. Jesus didn’t just exist like some ancient, remote figure. John presents Him as the One who has His hands on the control room of the universe. Again, I want to offer three witnesses to verify Jesus’ credentials. If you want
1. What’s it Going to Take for You to Believe?
“If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true” (John 5:31-32).
Jesus has made some tremendous claims: “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25).
Ordinary people don’t run around saying they can raise the dead by the power of the voice.
Everyone is struck by these mind-boggling claims. How can they corroborate Jesus’ assertions? In a matter of minutes, Jesus offers us 3 witnesses: 1) human testimony, 2) the very things Jesus is doing, and lastly, 3) the Scriptures themselves. If you’re wondering if it’s crazy to believe Jesus is God, the same kinds of evidence they had is the same kind of evidence you have. Imagine you are in a courtroom, and you want to find out, “Who did it?” Only, it’s not “Who did it?” but “Who is He?” Who is Jesus, really? Jesus says, “If you want to really know who I am, check with these three witnesses, as they’ll give you the unvarnished truth.” Skeptical people want to know.
1.1 The True Nature of Faith
Jesus’ love of debating shows us something about the true essence of faith. Faith requires thinking. Genuine faith in Jesus isn’t putting your mind in the freezer. What Jesus is saying here is that faith in Him is certainly more than thinking, but it’s not less than thinking. It’s more than examining the evidence, but it’s not less carefully examining the evidence.
The witnesses available then are the witnesses available to you right now. Will you trust that Jesus is more than a religious figure? Can you trust Him to control your universe?
1.2 Witness: #1: Human Testimony
Jesus mentions John the Baptist in verse 33. This is human testimony.
1.1.1 The Lamb of God
“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29). This is the Mount Everest of John’s witness when he calls Jesus “the Lamb of God.” When Jesus is referred to as “the Lamb of God,” John is telling you why Jesus came. Jesus is the sin remover offered to all of us. He will remove our sins by His blood, His sacrifice, His death on the cross.
1.1.2 A Burning and Shining Lamp
Jesus adds this important reminder, but He turns to yet another witness: “Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved” (John 5:34). Jesus speaks highly of John when He says, “He was a burning and shining lamp” (John 8:35a). Remember, John the Baptizer was either in prison or dead when Jesus said, “He was a burning and shining lamp” (John 8:35a). Remember, John’s witness cost him something – his very life.
1.1.3 Application
Skeptics, atheists, agnostics, and even sleepy Christians, all have human testimony to guide them. Do you know someone who is a burning and shining light for Christ? Are there any people you know who are strong Christians, and whose lives are filled with beauty? People whose lives are full of peace and harmony? People whom you can’t help but respect?1
Would you be willing to listen to human testimony about Jesus being equal to the Father? Maybe. Maybe not. But if you’re like me, you want something more to convince you.
1.4 Witness: #2: The Works of Jesus
Jesus says He has a second witness even greater than John’s testimony in verse 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” (John 5:36).
Jesus is talking about His claims, His miracles, and eventually His resurrection. In verse 36, catch some of the implications of Jesus’ words. Jesus says that God, the Father, laid out or planned works for Jesus to accomplish in His lifetime. Like a mother might lay out the clothes for her children for the day saying, “This is what you are to wear.” The Father laid out accomplishments for the Son to finish over His lifetime.
1.4.1 te?e??s?
The words “to accomplish” in verse 36 are words that many of you are familiar with but associate with the cross. Jesus says, “For the works that the Father has given me to te?e??s?.” When Jesus died on the cross, His last words were “te?e????,” meaning “It is finished.” Jesus uses a different form of the same Greek word. Two thousand years ago, Jesus said one word in Greek, which are three words in English that changed everything and have the potential to change anyone forever.
1.4.2 Unfinished Business
You and I never finish anything perfectly. If any of us were to die today, we would all die with some unfinished business. If you were to die right now, what would you leave unfinished? Some would leave a book unread, and others would leave some bills that have yet to be paid. Some of you still need to fulfill important promises. Some of you would have words you would have wished you had said to dear loved ones. Yes, there are a lot of things that go unfinished in this life.
1.4.3 Finished Business
Not so with Jesus. From the beginning to the end of Christ’s life, there is nothing omitted. No single act of service was ever left undone! From the time He was born to the time that He died, He perfectly followed the path that God laid out for Him to walk. Jesus had one thing on His plate when He was born and that was to do the will of God for His entire life. There was not a miracle that He did not perform! There was not an act of compassion that He did not accomplish! There was not a parable that He did not declare! From His childhood right up to His death, He finished every single thing the Father wanted Him to do.
1.4.4 Application
Just as they could see the ministry, the miracles, and eventually the resurrection of Jesus, you have access to all this as well. I call on you to look at His life. Look at His claims. Look at His character. Look at His resurrection. Look at all the historical evidence. Jesus says, “You have human testimony, but that’s not enough. You have my Father’s testimony. But I offer you a third layer of verification.”
1.5 Witness: #3: The Scriptures
The next witness is the dock is the Scriptures: “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).
1.5.1 The Bible
The Bible is so available; it’s as close as reaching out our hand. The Bible is on our phones and our nightstands in hotels all across our nation. Around eighty million Bibles are printed every year, and it is thought that there are between five and seven billion copies of the Bible printed in the last 1,500 years.2
1.5.2 How Do You View the Bible?
Now, there are really only two different views you can have of the Bible. Either it’s a human book written by men seeking God, or it’s a divine book written by God seeking humans.3 Jesus calls the Scriptures the voice of God Himself in verses 37 and 38: “And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 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). What did Jesus believe about the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament? Jesus says it is the very word of God. Jesus doesn’t believe the Bible is partly true. Instead, Jesus tells us the Bible is completely true.
1.5.3 Moses
Jesus believes the Bible is the very Word of God, but He also says it’s the words of Moses: “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?” (John 5:46-47).
How can the Bible be both the very word of God, and simultaneously the words of Moses? Jesus didn’t think the Bible was either the word of a mere human or the words of God. He felt the Bible was both. The Bible was both the Word of God and the word of men. When Jesus says, “For if you believed Moses,” He is referring to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses wrote these five books. This doesn’t mean Jesus understood the writers of the Scripture were mere stenographers. They were taking down dictation because they heard this little voice in their ear, and they just took it down “word for word.” That means God’s Holy Spirit controlled and influenced the personalities of the writers of the Scripture, so what they wrote was perfectly what God wanted to be written. You can see the various personalities come through when you read the Scriptures in the original Greek and Hebrew languages. The Gospel of John is much simpler to read than the Gospel of Luke. Both are the words of God, but God allows their personalities to shine through as well. The Bible is both the Word of God and the word of men. Our God used the personalities of the apostles to communicate His perfect Word.
1.6 The Influence of the Bible in America
Behold the power of the Word of God.
Buzz Aldrin
The Bible is so important that astronaut Buzz Aldrin read the words of John 15:5 silently before his counterpart Neil Armstrong said those immortal words, “One small step for man…”4 The first time men stepped off this planet, they depended on the Bible for inner strength.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. used imagery from the Bible to argue for civil rights as he talked about the “promised land.” The Bible helped frame our nation’s constitution, and it’s our nation’s foundation for civil rights. You don’t get civil rights without the Bible in our nation.
Swearing In
And every President except one used the Bible when being sworn into office.5 And the one exception was John Quincy Adams. The Bible is both the Word of God and the word of men.
1. What’s It Going to Take for You to Believe?
2. What’s It Going to Take for You to Refuse?
“And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 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).
Imagine if Jesus dropped into your Bible study and said, “You guys are absolutely dead wrong. You’re as wrong as people who don’t even read or study the Bible.” That’s precisely what Jesus does. He indicts those who refuse to believe the witnesses. In fact, there is a relentless string of indictments in front of you.
2.1 Six Layers of Indictment
1. Verse 38: You don’t have God’s word in you. You’ve never heard God, you’ve never seen God, His word is not in you, and you do not believe Him.
2. Verse 40: You don’t want to come to me. You read the Old Testament, which points everywhere to me as the fulfillment, and you don’t believe it because you don’t want to.
3. Verse 42: You don’t have the love of God in you. “I love my Father, and my satisfaction is in Him. You don’t have the love of the Father, and you don’t find satisfaction in Him.”
4. Verse 43: You don’t believe me. You want a different kind of Messiah than me.
5. Verse 44: You cannot believe. You’re caught up in getting your satisfaction quenched elsewhere.
6. Verse 45: You don’t believe Moses, and you don’t believe me.6
Six Layers of Indictment
2.2 Multiple Indictments
Again, Jesus drops the gavel on these religious leaders. Can you feel the weight of multiple indictments? Two former officers from Uvalde have multiple indictments against them. The former Uvalde police chief and another officer have been indicted over their slow response to the 2022 school massacre. I know we are still reeling from the assassination attempt of former President Trump yesterday, but as I read Jesus’ words, my mind went to Uvalde, TX. If you recall, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire in a fourth-grade classroom, where he remained for more than 70 minutes before officers confronted and killed him. In total, 376 law enforcement officers massed at Robb Elementary School on 24 May 2022. Some were waiting in the hallway outside the classroom even as the gunman could be heard firing an AR-15-style rifle inside.7 The former Uvalde police chief and another officer have been indicted over their slow response to the 2022 school massacre. These two former officers have multiple indictments.
Jesus does the same with those who refuse to believe in Him. For those who refuse to believe, it’s as if multiple indictments are being read in court. Marvel with me that the very people who claimed to know God best would not believe.
2.2 It’s a “Want To” Problem
Jesus says this as if He is dropping the gavel in court: “Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:40). Ultimately, the refusal to come to Jesus was less about the evidence and more about the “want to.” This isn’t a problem only in Jesus’ day. This is your problem and my problem. Jesus shows you His credentials. He invites you to believe in Him not just as a remote figure from antiquity but as the living, breathing ruler of the universe.
2.4 It is Finished
At the end of Jesus’ life, He would say again, “te?e??s?,” meaning “It is finished.” Jesus did not say, “I am finished.” Only He could redeem us and pay for our sins. Only He could satisfy the wrath of God against sin. Only He could save His people from their sins. He finished the work that God gave Him to do.
EndNotes
1 Timothy J. Keller, “Bible: End of Means?,” The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
2 https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction; accessed August 4, 2022.
3 Timothy J. Keller, “The Word of Witness,” The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
4 https://twitter.com/museumofBible/status/1549771873822691329; accessed July 4, 2024.
5 https://www.museumofthebible.org/book-minute/swearing-oaths; accessed August 4, 2022.
6 Thanks to Pastor John Piper for this idea from his sermon: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-love-of-human-praise-as-the-root-of-unbelief; accessed August 2, 2024.
7 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/27/uvalde-police-indicted-; accessed July 4, 2024.
