The Gospel of John - part 14
preached 1/27/19
In Defense of the Messiah
Last week we read John 5:19-29 and examined the claims of Jesus. The Jewish leaders were ready to kill Jesus after He healed the man at Bethesda on the Sabbath. When approached about breaking the Sabbath, Jesus equated Himself with God--blasphemy for an ordinary human. Jesus made three claims for His authority to heal:
Jesus claimed to be equal with God, because He is the Son of God.
Jesus claimed to give eternal life to those who believe in Him.
Jesus claimed that one day all the dead will rise and be separated by those who have surrendered to Jesus and those who have not. Those who believe will resurrect to eternal life, those who do not to eternal punishment.
I'll repeat what I said last week about these claims. These claims leave no middle ground for us. Jesus is either telling the truth and is God Incarnate, come to save us, or He is a crazy person that can be discarded.
This week, we will read further and see what Jesus says about His defense. Jesus gives four evidences to His authority. It is important that Jesus is providing four evidences, because according to Deut 17:6, two or three witnesses are needed for the death penalty. Jesus provides four witnesses for vindication: John the Baptist, Jesus’ works, the Father, and Scripture.
4 Evidences for the Identity of Jesus
I. John the Baptist - vs. 30-35
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 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.”
John 5:30-35
Verse 34: Jesus' testimony is not from man, but Jesus reminds them of John so that "they may be saved". Jesus uses John as a reminder of past declaration.
Verse 35: John was 'a burning lamp' that pointed the way to salvation, but the Jews were only willing to see him as entertainment ("you were willing to rejoice for a while").
Many have come in the name of Jesus to point people to salvation, but they were only tools of entertainment. Think of the number of people who saw or heard Billy Graham preach. If the millions of Americans who listened to Billy Graham actually obeyed the Gospel message he preached, we would certainly have a different country right now. But many people went to hear him because he was just an entertainer to them. He was helping people be better people, and that was enough for them. Now, I'm not saying Billy Graham is John the Baptist, but their message was the same: Repent and believe in the Son of God.
Likewise, churches have seen a steady decline in the last few decades, and I believe I know one good reason for it. In the early 20th century, and especially following World War 2, Sunday service was the culturally expected thing to do. In the 1800s, the church was the center of town and acted as the Town Hall and main meeting area. That continued into the 1900s, but church became a day of entertainment. People met their friends, made business contacts, and enjoyed an uplifting message by the preacher and music. By the time of the 60s and 70s, church buildings were separated into two factions, those who continued to look at Sunday Service as the culturally appropriate thing to do and those who genuinely wanted to seek God. By the time I was born in the 80s, and even more so in the 90s, church was no longer a cultural necessity. It was something some people did, but if someone wanted to meet with friends, make business contacts, or be entertained, they could find innumerable outlets for these things. Today, church is counter-cultural. We are the oddballs of society. Thus, church buildings are finding themselves emptier than in times past, because the only ones showing up are those remaining from when it was culturally demanded (which is a small number now) and the ones genuinely seeking God. Notice, it's still two factions. It's just that the first is considerably smaller than it used to be.
The American church is in a cultural shift that has been happening for the last 50 years. It's the same shift that happened in Europe 100 years ago. Europe started to become a more secularized continent prior to World War I. The wars only delayed the shift. While I studied in England, I was able to listen to pastors share about their ministries. The common thread is this: the UK has little to no desire for anything to do with Christianity. They shifted from a "Christian nation" to antagonistic to the gospel to now simple apathy. The average Englishman does not even think about death, heaven and hell. It's like talking about rocks. Very few people are interested in rocks. The missionaries say their first priority is to get people to even consider the idea they will one day die.
I share all that to say this: the Jews had John the Baptist to testify to the truth of Jesus Christ, but they considered John to be a spectacle of entertainment.
They missed salvation, because they didn't take John the Baptist seriously.
The English are missing salvation because they don't take religion, in general, seriously. There are people here in Chilhowee, and probably some in the pews, who will miss salvation because it isn't something to seriously consider. Christianity is a cultural thing rather than a spiritual matter.
As we continue to examine the proofs of Jesus' claims, let us examine them seriously and thoughtfully.
II. Jesus' own works - vs. 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
One commentator (Borchert NAC) rightly comments, “These works are not to be seen as ends in themselves but testify to the fact that Jesus is on a mission from the Father.” Jesus ability to actually heal people testifies that what He is saying is true. However, throughout history, people have sometimes forgotten that miracles are a means to the end, not the end themselves. This phenomenon has manifested in some spectacular ways.
For example, shortly after Christianity became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire, and especially after Rome fell, monasteries and churches started housing relics of Christian past to honor the fallen saints. Many times these relics were believed to have supernatural powers because of the righteous lives of the saints they represent.
Some of these are actually still around. St. Walbruga was an Anglo-Anglo-Saxon abbess in the 8th century whose relics leak an oily substance from the stone slab they rest upon. The sisters of the church collect the oil in a silver cup and pass it out to cure diseases. Also, the bones of St. Nicholas of Myra (yes, that St. Nick) allegedly leak a clear oil that has been used to cure all kinds of ailments since his death.
During the Reformation lived a man named Erasmus who wrote against the Catholic Church allowing Christians to place so much faith in relics while forsaking to build their faith in the Savior the saints served. He encouraged his readers to live faithfully like the saints rather than using their remains as superstitious trinkets. (Read Praise of Folly)
More recently, thanks to the wonders of television, we have been able to witness millions of people following faith healers, especially those in the charismatic movement. Now, my point is not to speak against miracles of faith, but to simply point out that millions of people have attended a faith healing service in hopes for a miracle. I wonder how many well-meaning Christians have placed their hopes in said faith-healer, but have neglected to grow their faith in the One who really does heal. Whether someone is trying to drink oil from a dead saint or have Benny Hinn slap them with his coat, it is still an attempt to garner a miracle from something that isn’t Jesus, and it demonstrates looking to the miracle as the end rather than a means to the end.
When Jesus healed in the past, and when He heals today, it is not the end. It is the beginning.
Jesus used miracles to point people to faith and eternal life.
Church, if you have received a miracle, it isn’t so you can sit back and say, ‘Whew, that was cool’. It is so you will know the One who supernaturally intervened and receive eternal life.
Jesus Himself did not even take full credit for the miracles. They were “given to [Him]” by the Father. He did not want people to focus on the miracles and signs, He wanted them to know the Father who sent Him.
III. The Father and Scripture
The last two evidences work together and lead to Jesus’ own charge against the Jews. First, the Father testifies on behalf of Jesus, but the Jews cannot hear the Father because “His word is not in them”. Because the Father and Son are One, by rejecting the Son, the Jews have rejected the Father.
Jesus continues by pointing to the Scriptures. The Jews did read and study the Scripture, but they still missed Jesus, because they rested on tradition rather than seeing what the Scriptures pointed to.
These two, the Father speaking through the Son and Scripture, point to the same evidence the Jews rejected, and many today continue to reject: God has made Himself known. We are not left to wonder in ignorance about our Creator. He has spoken in the past through prophets, He spoke through Jesus, and today He continues to speak through the Holy Spirit and Scripture.
God still speaks today through the Bible and the Holy Spirit.
For anyone willing to listen, one of the greatest testimonies to the truth of Christ is the Bible itself. The Bible we have today is a compilation of writings that span thousands of years using a wide variety of genres. As different as the separate books are, they all share the same message: God has made Himself known through His people, the Israelites, and fully through His Son, Jesus Christ. The dates and authenticity of what is in the writings have successfully overcome scrutiny from the last 300 years of criticism. Ancient cities testified in the Bible have been discovered by archeologists based on stories in the Bible. The textual witness, the many copies over the years and the number of copies written close to the originals, far exceeds any other piece of literature in the world. The number of prophecies fulfilled by Christ exceeds any test of random probabilities. Skeptics in the ancient world and today have tried again and again to disprove the Bible, only to discover their best arguments fall short.
Today, you might hear someone say Science has proven the Bible false. In scholarly circles, it’s well-known that is simply not true. The truth is we live in an age with a very unique religious system that doesn’t call itself a religion. ‘Secularism’, theoretical science, and liberalism are all facets of this ‘religion that isn’t a religion.’ I have two stories for you to illustrate. Richard Dawkins is a well-known, militant atheist. Most atheists aren’t actually like Mr. Dawkins—typically an atheist isn’t bothered by religion, they just don’t believe in it. However, Dawkins is so against the idea of God, he once had this to say about intelligent design:
Well it could come about in the following way. It could be that at some earlier time somewhere in the universe a civilization evolved by probably some kind of Darwinian means to a very, very, high level of technology and designed a form of life that they seeded onto perhaps this planet. Now, that is a possibility, and an intriguing possibility, and I suppose it’s possible that you might find evidence for that if you look at the details of biochemistry, molecular biology, you might find a signature of some sort of designer.
Did you catch that? He is willing to believe an intelligent alien race planted the earth millions of years ago—a stipulation with absolutely no evidence—rather than admit God exists.
Or, try this one. In Topanga, CA there is a research group called Quantum Gravity Research. They are working on the infamous ‘theory of everything’ that has eluded physicists since quantum mechanics came into existence.* To summarize very quickly, this group has theorized reality is made up of these 8 dimensional particles which rotate within 3D space making the Universe. Within the model they are proposing is the idea of consciousness. In order for reality to exist, someone has to observe it, and in their model consciousness itself is a part of this 8D particle. (Again, I am summarizing a lot to save time.) The implication is what Klee Irwin says may be a “universal consciousness”, however he says, “there is no need to be New Age or religious about it (26:44).” In other words, ‘I realize the work I am doing is mathematically implying the existence of the Divine, but I’m not willing to admit it.’ It’s like the two astronauts who went to space. One looked around and said he marveled at the evidence of God’s handiwork, the other looked and said, “I don’t see God anywhere”.
Much like the Jews who watched Jesus perform miracles, we live in an age where ignorance of Jesus is a willful ignorance. We have evidence for not just God’s existence, but His full revelation in Christ Jesus all around us. The problem is not whether God will make Himself known, it is whether we are willing to listen to Him when He does.
The Jews' inability to receive the Son
But today’s world has the same problems of the first century. Jesus makes it very clear what the Jews reject Him. First, in verse 42, they “do not have the love of God in them”. Another way to put it is they loved the idea of God and religion, but they did not love God. They are the same people who have no problem benefiting from God’s blessings and Christianity, but they do not want to actually live their life as God designs.
They loved religion, not God.
Second, in verse 44, we see they look for glory in each other’s eyes. They cannot believe in Jesus because He is not glorifying the religious leaders as they would like. They are like those who want to know what the Church can do for them, or those who think God is a cosmic ATM that just has to be poked right in order to get stuff. The emphasis is on them and their desires, not on who Jesus is and what God has already done for humanity.
They looked for each other’s approval rather than God’s.
Jesus says in verses 45-47 that He will not accuse them, because they already have an accuser, Moses. Why Moses? Because Moses wrote about the coming Messiah. Two passages serve as what Jesus is alluding to.
Deuteronomy 18:15 - The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.
Deuteronomy 31:19 - Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel.
It may also be that Jesus is making a general reference to the Old Testament. Regardless, Scripture pointed to the coming Messiah, and the Jews who were supposed to be the most knowledgable concerning Scripture were missing it. Jesus is making a cutting charge against them: the Prophet they admired the most would not commend them, but condemn them for their treatment of Jesus.
Invitation
Today, you may be standing at a crossroads and not know it. You see, the truth of Christ is plain for anyone who is willing to see. Jesus is God’s Son who came into this world to save it. He lived the life we cannot live in order to pay the price for our sin we cannot pay.
He proved his identity through the witness of John the Baptist, and his identity is continued proven by every Christian who has received eternal life.
He proved his identity through miracles and healing. Today, innumerable people can testify to the healing power of the Gospel. Families restored, health restored, hope available, and all sorts of stories exist that point to the same truth: Jesus is alive and gives life.
He proved his identity by pointing to the Father and Scripture. There is a Creator who made this world—all evidence points to a God who put this Universe together. The Bible continues to testify to the identity of this Creator, He is God, the God of Israel and the God of the disciples. Jesus is God Incarnate come down to us from Heaven in order to make our Creator fully known. As human science grows, the testimony to the Divine only grows with it. As critics continue to scrutinize the Bible, it continues to prove itself true.
At this crossroad, you are not choosing whether or not evidence exists for the claims of Jesus, you are choosing whether or not you will believe.
Will you choose to believe in Jesus, trust in His name for salvation, or will you continue to live in sin and disbelief?
*Now, I should explain I am not a physicists. I love physics and astronomy, but when I took AP Physics in high school, I became so bored with the math, I moved on to Art (Probably not the best choice and certainly not a good reason, but there you go). But, every once in awhile when insomnia has me up, I’ll read random articles or watch videos on tech and science.