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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Are You Sure Jesus is The Son of God? {John 5}



By Sue Desmarais

How can you be sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? And how can you be sure you are one of His followers?

What would you say if someone asked you these questions today?

I've discovered over the years that there is often a vast difference from following a particular religion and following Christ Jesus, God's Son. Have you noticed just how many religions there are out there today that all claim their way is the best, or even only way to God in heaven? Have you ever wondered about what you believe and whether or not it's correct? These were exactly the questions on the people's minds in chapter 5 - How can we be certain Jesus is who he claims he is? 

According to the Law of Moses which is what the Jews followed, a testimony had to come from, “the mouths of two or three witnesses" before it was accepted. (Deuteronomy 19:15). Because we live in a fallen world, we don't know whether to believe someone's testimony or not, therefore The Lord prescribed in the Law that there must be witnesses; people who will corroborate another's testimony before it is to be believed, and this is exactly what our Lord is doing for the people who are listening to Him.

Jesus has made some amazing claims about Himself in this one chapter alone! He claimed to be:
·         "the Son of God,"
·         "the One sent by the Father,"
·          "the Source of all life" (physical and spiritual),
·          "the Judge of all the world" (everyone is heading toward a confrontation with him), and
·          "the Raiser of the dead," - the very One who one day will empty out all the cemeteries of the earth!

 Imagine for a moment that you were hearing all of this for the very first time! I'll bet it was a "jaw-dropping" moment. I'm also willing to bet that doubts began to form in the listener’s minds almost immediately, and knowing their hearts and minds, Jesus proceeds to reveal three witnesses whose testimony backs up His claims. 

The first witness is Jesus Himself:
"If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid. There is another [My Father] who testifies about Me, and I know [without any doubt] that His testimony on My behalf is true and valid.”-John 5:31-32
(When our Lord says his testimony is not valid, he does not mean it is false; he means it was not valid in their eyes because of their need for more witnesses, referring back to the Law in Deut 19:15.)
The second witness was John the Baptist:
"You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this 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 5:33-35 

John the Baptist had said four specific things about Jesus:
  • John proclaimed Him to be the long-expected Messiah, the One whom the prophets wrote of. John even quoted the word of Isaiah concerning himself, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord'" -John 1:23
  • Secondly, as "the Lamb of God." To his own disciples he said, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world," -John 1:29. Which meant Jesus was to be the innocent Substitute who will one day stand in our place and take our sins upon Himself.
  • Third as the "Baptizer with the Holy Spirit," (John 1:33). He is the One who will pour out "river of living water" that will satisfy the thirsty hearts.
  • Finally, as "the Son of God," (John 1:34). He is the Word made flesh, God Himself, Lord of heaven and earth, who became a man. 
And in verse 33, Jesus declares that all John said about Him is true!

The third witness and even greater witness than John, according to Jesus, is the very works that Jesus has performed before them:

But the testimony which I have is far greater than the testimony of John; for the works that the Father has given Me to finish—the very same works [that is, the miracles and proofs of My deity] that I am [now] doing—testify about Me, [by providing evidence] that the Father has sent Me.” -John 5:36

And if you still can't believe Him because of the works He's done, believe Him because of His Father who sent Him to do those very works:
"And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me."- John 5:37


Ah! But there is still a problem! And Jesus goes on to explain it:
"You have never heard His voice nor seen His form [His majesty and greatness]. You do not have His word (Scripture) abiding in you [actually living in your hearts and minds], because you do not believe in Him whom He has sent.
You search and keep on searching and examining the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and yet it is those [very Scriptures] that testify about Me." - John 5:37-39

Do you know people like that? They think they have it all figured out, so much so, nothing you could say would change their minds?
There is this one man I know who comes to mind. He's absolutely brilliant! He's an excellent Bible teacher; has earned a Ph.D. from the very best schools in the country. He can win an argument without ever opening up a Bible! He can quote Scripture and cross-reference like the best of them, but He doesn't know Jesus!!  He is lost, utterly lost, but chooses to remaining right where he is. Like these Jews, he has studied the Scriptures, but stopped short of coming to Jesus in order to be assured of eternal life. 

This tells me that there has got to be more to knowing God’s word inside out and backwards! It's not enough to have only head knowledge; we've got to have faith to believe it! Romans 10:8-10 comes to mind and I'll close with this:

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Jesus is who He says He is, for not only does Scripture testify to this fact in so many, many ways, but my heart also believes it’s true. How about you?