João 5
Steven Cole · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 5
Cole - In God’s eternal plan, the Father sent the Son to bear our sin and the Son submitted to the Father’s will. Everything that Jesus did while He was on earth He did in submission to the Father. Thus He wasn’t bearing witness of Himself independently of the Father. (The Witnesses to Jesus John 5:30-40) J C
João 5
Cole explains "a Jewish lawyer would have said at this point, “Yes, but self-evidence is not admissible in a court of law. There must be outside testimony.” Jewish law required the testimony of two or three witnesses to establish the truth (Dt. 19:15+, cf Dt 17:6+). Jesus condescends to this point here in Jn 5:31....acknowledging that His testimony would not be valid if He were acting independently of the Father. So He goes on to give other witnesses to His claim." (Witnesses to Jesus Jn 5:30-40) John Heading essentially agrees writing that Jesus "meant that, as a sole witness, the Jews would not accept His testimony as true. To those who knew His Person, His sole testimony was accepted as absolutely true, as when He testified that He was the Christ and the Son (ED: SEE PETER'S CONFESSION IN Jn 6:68-69+)." (What the Bible Teaches - John) David
João 5
Cole - God sent John the Baptist in fulfillment of His promise (Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1) to bear witness of Jesus (John 1:6–8, 23). But John was not Jesus’ “key witness” in that he was human. Jesus’ main witness was the Father. But Jesus mentions John here because for a while the Jews were flocking out to hear him and Jesus wants them to be saved. If they would have believed John’s testimony that Jesus was the Lamb of God, sent to take away the sins of the world (Jn 1:29), they would have been saved. John was a lamp, not the light, but he bore witness to the Light. (The Witnesses to Jesus) And he has testified (martureo in perfect = permanent, abiding value of his testimony) to the truth (aletheia) - Has testified is perfect tense which speaks of John's testimony as having enduring effect and impact (it is still resonating today to all who read the Gospels!). Compare with Jn 5:32 where testifies (martureo) is in the present tense (God continually testifying). In short, Jesus affirms John was a witness of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth concerning the Christ, the Messiah, Who would later make the declaration that He Himself was THE TRUTH (Jn 14:6). So when John testified to the truth, he testified to Jesus Who is the Truth. Matthew
João 5
Cole comments on the witness of John for a while - There was a window of opportunity for the Jews to believe John, but now that window had closed. The Jewish leaders were interested in John when he was popular, but they never took his message to heart. They were like a bunch of moths who hovered near the lamp while it was burning, but flitted back into the darkness after it was extinguished. They should have followed the One to whom John had pointed. The lesson is: Don’t miss the opportunity to be saved when God is speaking His truth to you through His messenger! Today is the day of salvation! (The Witnesses to Jesus) John
João 5
Cole - When the Jews said to Jesus (Jn 10:24b), “If You are the Christ, tell us plainly,” He answered (Jn 10:25), “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.” Later, He said (Jn 15:24), “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.” Jesus’ miracles gave abundant testimony that He is the Christ, the Son of God....The Jews never attempted to deny that these miracles had occurred. Rather, they tried to attribute them to Satan (Matt. 12:22–30) Many skeptics today would deny the possibility of miracles because they have never seen one. I just read a Reader’s Digest cover story on “amazing facts” about the human body. The story uses words like “incredible” and “magical” to describe the way the body works. But it never alludes to the Creator. The evidence for miracles is literally right under their noses, but they’re blind to see it! (The Witnesses to Jesus) (Bolding added) J C
João 5
Cole - Jesus indicts the Jews for three things (Borrow Morris, p. 329): (1) “You have [not] heard His voice at any time” (Jn 5:37). Moses had heard God’s voice (Exod. 33:11), but Jesus’ hearers were not true followers of Moses (Jn 5:46). If they had been true followers of Moses, they would have recognized God’s voice in Jesus (Jn 3:34; 17:8). (2) You have not “seen His form” (Jn 5:37b). Jacob saw “the face of God” when he wrestled with the angel (Jesus in preincarnate form), but the Jews were not true sons of Jacob or they would have seen God’s form in Jesus (Jn 1:18; 14:9). (3) “You do not have His word abiding in you” (Jn 5:38). Although they studied the Word (Jn 5:39) and many of the rabbis had memorized most of the Word, they had studied it wrongly, because their study had not pointed them to the Word who took on human flesh and dwelt among them (Jn 1:1, 14). (The Witnesses to Jesus)
João 5
Cole - Jesus’ words in Jn 5:39–40 show that it is possible to study the Scriptures in the wrong way. If you approach the Scriptures from an academic perspective only, it can lead to tragic results. It can fill you with intellectual pride about how you know more than others. It can lead you to the false hope that you have eternal life because of your great knowledge. (The Witnesses to Jesus) You search (ereunao) the Scriptures (graphe) because (term of explanation - What does Jesus explain?) you think (suppose - dokeo) that in them you have eternal (aionios) life (zoe) -You refers to the Jewish leaders who were listening. Search is in the present tense indicating they did this continually (see picture above). Note that some think search is better interpreted as a command for them to Search! (see Ryle below) Their problem was not ignorance but arrogance! The Scriptures in context (NT was not yet written) refer to the entire Old Testament. Notice the phrase you think - in other words they thought since they searched the Scriptures, that assured them eternal life! On one hand they thought correctly, but that life is coupled with belief of the Scriptures, not mere rote reading, however zealous one is in reading. If you do not believe (and obey) what you read, you are utterly and completely deceived! (cf Jas 1:22+). Their founded their faith on what they did (works) rather than what Christ finished on the Cross! Woe! They were like modern day church goers who think they are saved and secure eternally because they have made a profession of Christ, but they have never truly experienced a possession of Christ by grace through faith. These are those who will one day sadly hear Jesus' frightening words in Mt 7:21-23+. Have you made a profession of Christ but lack genuine possession of Christ? (See What is a profession of faith? How can I have assurance of my salvation?; What are some of the signs of genuine saving faith?; If you doubt your salvation, does that mean you are not truly saved?; What if I don’t feel saved?; Can a person believe in some sense but not be saved?) Eternal life is only found in the Person of Christ, not the words about the Person! As John wrote in his epistle "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." (1 Jn. 5:11+) THOUGHT - "Search" (whether indicative or imperative) means much more than just "read" the Scriptures, but dig into them, devour them, "eat" them, desire them more than your necessary food (Job 23:12+)! This begs the question how do you (I) interact with the Living and Active Word of Truth and Life? Do you zip through your morning devotional so you can check off the box ("Done that one!")? Are you do dig into the text as if your very life depended on it (Mt 4:4+, Dt 32:47+)? Beloved, if you have never considered inductive Bible study, I strongly encourage you to do so as you will begin to gather the tools to allow you to truly "search" the breadth and length and height and depth of God's eternal Word. D A Carson notes that "The verb rendered ‘diligently study’ (search) corresponds to the Hebrew verb darash, a technical term used to refer to their study and exposition of the Bible and of ‘oral Torah’, the body of oral traditions that had also come down to them. But Jesus points out that their primary motivation in such diligent study was the hope of final acceptance by God. John
João 5
Cole - C. H. Spurgeon has two sermons on John 5:40, which I encourage you to read (John 5:40 Unwillingness to Come to Christ). In the first one, preached when he was only 21 years-old (Free Will a Slave), he develops four points: (1) Men by nature are dead. (2) In Christ Jesus there is life. (3) Eternal life is given to all who come for it. (4) By nature, no man will come to Christ, because they are unwilling. On this last point, he explains that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). He argues that no true Christian will say that he came to Christ of his own free will apart from God’s first seeking him and drawing him to the Savior. (The Witnesses to Jesus) John