John 5: 45-47
” But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
Every great legal argument ends with a summation. Here Jesus is standing in the highest court in the land (as far as the Jews were concerned). He is persecuted by the Jewish leaders in front of his disciples and all the people. Jesus responds by defending himself and what he has been doing by testifying that he has a special relationship with God and is, in fact, equal with God. Aware that one testimony is not enough in court, he appeals to John the Baptist, the testimony of his miracles, and the testimony of God and the Scriptures.
Having laid out a case that he has the authority and standing to heal on the Sabbath if he wants to, he then turns the spotlight on the Jewish leaders and puts them on trial in front of the gathered onlookers. In today’s passage, he sums up his case against them, again drawing a distinction between the head knowledge that the Jewish leaders had of scripture and their belief in those scriptures.
Q: What do you think of the case Jesus has made? How would it have been perceived by the Jewish leaders, by others in the temple, and by the disciples?
I think one has to accept who Jesus is to accept and make sense of his case. I think in general the religious leaders rejected him, but a few saw that he wasn’t merely a competing religious faction and his actions/words didn’t fit with the ‘heretic’ title the other religious leaders put on him. I think the crowds were attracted to the ‘fanfare’ and miracles, but many if not most were interested in a superficial way.
I love looking at the discipleship Jesus is doing with the disciples (the 12 and others who were serious). It often seems like they didn’t ‘get’ so much of what he was teaching or doing. It makes me smile, because it reminds me of my own journey of faith and the progression I see in others. We grow and the wise farmer plans ahead for the growth of his vineyard. So, I don’t know how much of Jesus case the disciples really understood at the time, but I think they came to understand the full significance the more they grew, to the point that John included it in this gospel.
Jesus, GOD, spoke the truth perfectly.
V31-35, Jesus satisfied all legal requirements to support His claim.
V36-37a, God the Father was also His witness as He gave Jesus the power to teach and perform the miracles He did.
V37b-38, They had never heard God’s voice, seen His face, did not have His word in their hearts.
V39-40, They had searched the scriptures for eternal life, and rejected the path that led through Christ.
V41-43a, The approval of their hearts which rejected God, meant nothing to Jesus.
V43b-44, They prefer the glad welcome of men, and couldn’t believe because their preferred the honor of men over God.
V45-47, Their knowledge and rejection of the word of God delivered by Moses condemns them.
The Jewish leaders probably became more angry, some could have been convicted, the poor in spirit would want to hear more from Jesus.