Had You Believed Moses
TRANSLATION
(39) “You study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And these are the very Scriptures that testify about me, (40) yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (41) I do not receive glory from people, (42) but I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. (43) I have come in my Father’s name, and you will not receive me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. (44) How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one true God? (45) Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope. (46) For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote about me. (47) But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
OBSERVATIONS
In this final segment of John 5, Jesus continued his denunciation of the leaders’ refusal to believe in his person. Repetitions again help us discern the message of this segment. “Life” is found twice (vss. 39 & 40), once specifically described as “eternal” and the other implied as the same kind of life. The verb “receive” is found four times (in vss. 41, 43 & 44). “God” occurred twice (vss. 42 & 44). “Father” was repeated (vss. 43 & 45) along with “name” (both in vs. 43). “Glory” is also found twice (vs. 44) as is “Moses” (vss. 45 & 46). Finally, “believe” was repeated five times (once in vs. 44 and twice each in vss. 46 & 47).
OUTLINE
I. The Jewish leaders taught that veneration of the Scriptures led to eternal life. (39-42)
II. Those very Scriptures testified that eternal life came only by trusting in Christ. (43-47)
IDEA STATEMENT
If, in our veneration of the Scriptures, we miss its core message of the Gospel, we are in danger of missing out on God’s gift of eternal life.
APPLICATION
There is nothing wrong with a strong commitment to the authority of God’s written Word. However, there is everything wrong with relying on our own capacity to obey God’s Word in order to gain eternal life. In both Testaments, the principle from Habakkuk held true: “The just shall live by faith,” that is, by relying on the grace of the life-giver and not on oneself. The Scriptures were never intended to serve as an end in themselves but rather as the means by which we are brought into a personal relationship with the One who alone can cleanse us from our sins and declare us righteous by faith.
The Jews of Jesus’ day so highly regarded the written Word of God that they were blinded to its core message about the Living Word of God who came to give us life. In particular, the Torah written by Moses was held in the highest esteem. Tragically, those Jews who revered Moses and the Torah failed to discern the character and working of the God revealed in its pages. A prime example of this is found in Deuteronomy 18 where Moses warned, “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…” (Dt. 18:15). If the Jewish leaders had taken Moses’ admonition to heart, they would never have missed their Messiah when he unexpectedly showed up.