John 5:31-47
What Their Problem Was
The title continues a series of thoughts I gave last week. We started
with a miracle, an impotent man was healed. Then Jesus revealed some
truth about Himself (i.e. Who His Father is; Who the Judge will be;
Who the Savior is). And now in this section, He declared, "What Their
Problem Was."
John 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye
might have life.
A lot of people never have gotten the concept of action/reaction.
Here the Lord gives their action, "they refused to come to Him," and
the reaction, "they don’t have life."
Many of the Jews simply would not believe. We think that Jesus is
into His second year of ministry by now. While the common people were
coming to hear Him preach, the religious leaders had decided to kill
Him \\#Joh 5:16, 18\\. So Jesus, seeing their hearts, addresses their
condition. There are many truths to bring out but I will settle for
two main thoughts:
I. Jesus Had Witnesses-The witness of who Jesus was has been a main
theme in the book of John. It continues.
A. \\#31\\ Jesus said that His own witness is insufficient.
1. This gets back to an Old Testament law that one witness
can give life-threatening testimony.
De 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three
witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be
put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he
shall not be put to death.
2. Jesus was not saying there was anything WRONG with what He
would say about Himself, only that it was INSUFFICENT.
3. It makes sense that if the matter of a human life cannot
be decided by one witness then the matter of all the
human souls cannot be.
B. \\#31-35\\ John (the Baptist) had borne witness to Jesus.
1. This has been a major theme in the book of John (the
Apostle).
2. It has been evident since \\#John 1:19\\.
3. But John has also recorded the response to John’s witness.
John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own
received him not.
4. Here Jesus added:
John 1:35 He was a burning and a shining light:
and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in
his light.
5. And to that, Jesus added that even John’s testimony was
insufficient.
John 1:34 But I receive not testimony from man:
but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
a. That was in NO WAY intended to slam John.
b. John himself said that he did not know who the Messiah
was except that God showed Him to him.
(1) God revealed the Messiah to him.
(2) The Holy Spirit pointed the Messiah out.
(3) John just preached Him.
c. Jesus was just pointing out that no human being is
qualified to identify the incarnate Son of God.
C. \\#36\\ Jesus’ works had borne witness to Jesus.
John 5:36 But I have greater witness than that
of John: for the works which the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works that I do,
bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
1. We have talked about WHY Jesus did miracles.
a. Because someone needed physical help.
b. To reveal a spiritual truth.
c. To identify who Jesus was.
2. This is a major point that Jesus made.
Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and
ye believed not: the works that I do in my
Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:37 If I do not the works of my
Father, believe me not.
38 But if I do, though ye believe not me,
believe the works: that ye may know, and
believe, that the Father is in me, and I
in him.
3. Who else has ever done these kinds of works?
4. There is a danger to looking to works alone for the Bible
tells us that the anti-Christ will do great works.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that
he maketh fire come down from heaven on the
earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth
by the means of those miracles which he had
power to do in the sight of the beast; saying
to them that dwell on the earth, that they
should make an image to the beast, which had
the wound by a sword, and did live.
5. So it is not just the works.
a. It is the works and the prophecies.
b. It is the works and the teaching.
c. It is the works and the love.
d. It is the works along with the fact that Jesus came
first.
(1) Satan does not seem to be very original.
(2) He likes to counterfeit.
(3) There have been many false Christs; however, they
were not miracle workers. (Apparently, God has
not given that power to Satan as of yet.)
(4) While another will come, ours is the Original!
D. The Father had borne witness to Jesus.
John 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath
sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have
neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen
his shape.
1. The Father had borne witness of Jesus in several ways
(visions, angels, miracles), but the most notable was
when He spoke from heaven.
Mark 1:9 And it came to pass in those days,
that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and
was baptized of John in Jordan.
10 And straightway coming up out of the water,
he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like
a dove descending upon him:
11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying,
Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.
2. Granted, the religious leaders may not have been there
when Jesus was baptized, but they had HEARD what God
did!
E. God’s Word has borne witness to Jesus.
John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would
have believed me: for he wrote of me.
47 But if ye believe not his writings, how
shall ye believe my words?
1. Jesus was referring to the many prophecies in the Old
Testament that pointed to Jesus.
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them
ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they
which testify of me.
2. Someone has said that there are at least 333 prophecies of
Jesus’ FIRST coming that were literally fulfilled.
http://www.biblelineministries.org/articles/basearch.php3?action=full
&mainkey=JESUS-FULFILLMENT+OF+ALL+PROPHECY
3. I am not a mathematician but I read that one man who is
figured what the odds were of an individual fulfilling 8
of the OT prophecies about Jesus.
a. He figured the answer was 1 in 10 to 17th exponent.
(1) That’s 1 x 1 with 18 zeroes behind it.
(2) He described that as the same odds of blind
folding a man, telling him he could walk as far
as he wanted to talk but then picking up a
marked silver dollar!
b. He then figured out what the odds were of one man
fulfilling 48 prophecies and the odds went up to
1 in 1 with 158 zeroes behind it.
http://cgi.org/jesus-christ-is-fulfilled-prophecy/
c. How much greater are the odds that He would fulfill
over 300 of them!
(1) Born in Bethlehem
(2) Called out of Egypt
(3) Lived in Nazareth
(4) Betrayed by a close friend.
(5) Sold for 30 pieces of silver.
(6) The money then used to purchase Potter’s field.
(7) Beard plucked
(8) No bones broken
(9) Them gambling for His clothes
(10) Crucified
d. By the way, all of those are prophecies that Jesus
could not have influenced. He was either a baby or
the matter was out of human control.
4. In my opinion, this one fact may have been the worst
condemnation for the scribes and Pharisees for they were
paid to do nothing but to study the Scriptures that they
might RECOGNIZE the Christ.
a. I wonder if they did then what they do now, simply
explain away the literal meanings of the Scripture.
b. Jesus said, "THEY DID NOT BELIEVE
WHAT MOSES WROTE."
F. So these are the witnesses that the Jews rejected!
1. How about you?
2. You have all of these witnesses and some.
3. You have the witness of changed lives. Here is a church
full of them right here.
4. You have 2,000 years of changed lives and history.
5. You have end time signs being fulfilled right before your
eyes.
II. Why then did the Jews reject these witnesses? Jesus gave some
insight into the hearts of the Jews.
A. They didn’t know the Word.
John 5:38 And ye have not his word abiding in
you….
1. You are missing what God wants you to know if you do not
know His Word.
2. It is interesting what the religious leaders would tell
the people when some expressed some hope that Jesus was
the Messiah.
Joh 7:49 But this people who knoweth not the
law are cursed.
3. The religious leaders did not get much correct but this
they did! A people who do not KNOW God are cursed!
a. cursed to hell
b. cursed to a sinful, painful life
c. cursed to be Satan’s toy
d. cursed to hurt and be hurt by others
e. cursed to wonder without a purpose
f. cursed to live life without joy, peace, or power
g. cursed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again
h. cursed to unhappiness over and over again
4. You cannot be SOUND OF MIND without the Word of God.
5. But get this, even have the Word is not enough to make you
a GOOD Christian. You need some thing else.
B. They didn’t have God’s love in their hearts.
John 5:42 But I know you, that ye have not
the love of God in you.
1. You know what makes you a GOOD Christian?
a. It is not knowledge.
b. It is love. Those that love God will seek to do His
will.
2. What does knowledge give you?
a. Soundness
b. Knowledge of the Word gives you soundness and love for
God gives you devotion, determination.
3. We need both.
4. These people had neither.
C. They were too concerned about one another.
John 5:44 How can ye believe, which receive
honour one of another, and seek not the honour
that cometh from God only?
1. They were vain; that is, more concerned about what others
thought about them than what God thought about them.
2. A sure way to end up burning in hell for eternity is to
be more concerned about man thinks about you than God.
3. I understand wanting to be accepted, liked, appreciated;
however, man’s opinion is tainted toward the devil.
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