The
Passage
16
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He
had done these things on the Sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, “My
Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
18Therefore
the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the
Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. 19Then
Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do
nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the
Son also does in like manner. 20For the Father loves the Son, and
shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works
than these, that you may marvel. 21For as the Father raises the dead
and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22For
the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23that
all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor
the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24“Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me
has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from
death into life. 25Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who
hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has
granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27and has given Him
authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28Do
not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves
will hear His voice 29and come forth—those who have done good, to
the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of
condemnation. 30I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and
My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the
Father who sent Me.
31 If I bear witness of Myself,
My witness is not true. 32There is another who bears witness of Me,
and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33You
have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Yet I do
not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35He
was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in
his light. 36But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works
which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness
of Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37And the Father Himself, who
sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor
seen His form. 38But you do not have His word abiding in you,
because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39You search the
Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they
which testify of Me. 40But you are not willing to come to Me that
you may have life.
41“I do not receive honor from
men. 42But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. 43I
have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in
his own name, him you will receive. 44How can you believe, who
receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the
only God? 45Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father;
there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. 46For if you
believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47But
if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Explanation,
Observation and Insights
Jesus
has defended the Sabbath healing to the Pharisees by declaring His equality
with God the Father. He revealed His relationship to God as Son, and then
declared that His authority was given to Him by God. Now Jesus concludes His
argument with final evidence.
In a
court of law, a defendant must produce witnesses to corroborate or confirm his
testimony. His case cannot be proven on his word alone. Jesus does the same,
and produces four witnesses.
·
John
the Baptizer: Just like today, there were people in Jesus' day who claimed to be
the Messiah—Christ. Jesus would have been seen as just as loony as the rest,
except that God sent a forerunner, John, to prepare the people for Jesus’ coming
just like the prophets said would happen. But Jesus does not count John as His
proof. He uses John in the list for the sake of the Pharisees. John is just a
man; Jesus has more authoritative witnesses.
·
The
works: So far Jesus has turned water into wine (a Messianic indicator), healed
a nobleman’s son, made a lame man walk and healed on the Sabbath. John the
apostle later says that all the books in the world could not contain the
glorious works that Jesus did. We have only what is revealed in Scripture, and
that is enough. Of course, we know that Jesus will do many more amazing
miracles, and that is the point. He has emphasized to these unbelieving Jews
that all His works will attest to His Lordship. The greatest work of all will be
His cross-work, which He alluded to earlier in His argument (vss. 20-24) when
God raises Christ from the dead, thus providing eternal life to all who
believe.
·
God:
Some commentators see Jesus’ naming three
witnesses. They combine God and the Word into one witness—God through the
Scriptures. Others see four stating that the voice of God refers to Jesus’
baptism in Matthew 3:17, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
·
The
Scriptures: The New Testament was not yet written. When Jesus speaks of the Scriptures,
He is specifically referring to the Pentateuch or “The Law” (the first five
books of the Bible written by Moses). After Jesus rose from the dead, He walked
with two unnamed believers on the road to Emmaus.[1]
During that discussion, Jesus showed Himself to them through the Scriptures. It
is said that we can find Jesus on every page of Scripture. He is the mystery
hidden in the Old Testament, but now revealed[2].
If they were blind to it before, these keepers of the law now have the truth
revealed to them. They could have searched the Scriptures diligently to see if
what Jesus said were true, but they refused to come to Him so that they could
have life.
Jesus
laid out His defense arguing from the least to the greatest. God’s written word
is the final and ultimate revelation of His will and character; He magnifies
His Word above His name (Psalm 138:2). The central theme of the Bible from “In
the beginning...” (Genesis 1:1) to the last “Amen” of Revelation 22:21 is the
Lord Jesus Christ.
The
Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to us, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews
1:1, 2, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to
the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,
whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and
upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged
our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high...”
This
One who gave Himself to me in salvation, continues to give me His righteousness
as I walk in obedience to His grace and mercy.
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways
past finding out!” What possible revelation can be greater than this? What
other revelation can command my attention? Is it even possible to exhaust the
incomparable riches of Christ’s fullness revealed to us in the pages of
Scripture? What a blessed gift we have! What a marvelous treasure to spend our
lives searching through!
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