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Witnesses of Christ (John 5:31-47) Jesus lays out His “documentation” before the people and they must decide if He is the Lord as He claims to be, a liar, or a lunatic. |
Witnesses of Christ (John 5:31-47)
Jesus lays out His “documentation” before the people and they must decide if He is the Lord as He claims to be, a liar, or a lunatic. To support His claim he calls on the testimony of:
- Himself (v31) – Jesus claimed equality with God (John 5:17-18; 10:30-33).
- John the Immerser (v33-35) – He knew how to recognize the Savior and pointed people to Jesus (John 1:29-36).
- His Works (v36) – The very things that Jesus did testified to the fact that He was who He claimed to be and was sent from God and approved by God. This fact could not be successfully argued but still some did not accept (John 3:2; 10:37-38; Matt. 12:24-26).
- God The Father (v32, 37) – This witness could not lie (V32, Titus 1:2) and it was this witness that both sent and testified of Him (Matt. 3:16-17; 17:1-9; John 12:28-30).
- The Old Testament Scriptures (V38-40) – testified of Jesus and pointed them to Jesus but they rejected it; here were the very scriptures they claimed to trust, but in reality they refused to listen them (Rom. 10:4; Gal. 3:24).
- Moses (v45-47) – The final witness is one who will become their accuser; Moses spoke of Jesus and prophesied of Him (Deut. 18:18-19) but they rejected Him; in so doing they rejected Moses, the one they claimed to follow.
How much proof was needed? What will we do with this evidence that is recorded for our faith (John 20:30-31)?
What will be our estimation of Jesus?
