John 5:31-47

Amen. Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in John chapter 5.

John 5 · chapter mention

! John chapter 5, our text for today is verses 31 through 47.

John 5 · chapter mention

! 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.

Isaiah 5:1–7

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

Romans 9:6

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.

John 5:31–47

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.

John 1 · chapter mention

So if you want to turn back a couple of pages

and look at verse 19 of John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

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,

Matthew 3:16

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

Luke 24:25

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

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

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

John 5 · chapter mention

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

Joshua 1:8

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.

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.