NOTHING TO FEAR – John 6:16-21

Bible sermons, Evidence that Jesus Christ is God, Gospel of John, Jesus walks on water, John 6:16-21, John's Gospel

Have you ever been frightened by the forces unleased in nature? Can you remember hearing lightning cracking overhead, and then “KA-BOOM!”, the thunder was deafening and the ground vibrated under your feet? Did you shake for a moment also? When Mount St. Helens exploded and those tons of ash were billowing up into the sky, did you feel a twinge of fear as you watched it from a distance or on your television sets? I wasn’t in the Pacific Northwest when that event occurred, but I have experienced an earthquake in Southern California, a tornado while going to school in Iowa, and a typhoon while stationed at an Air Force base on Okinawa, and I trembled with fear on all three occasions! I can imagine that you have some stories that you could tell about instances in your life when the forces of nature caused fear in you also.

In John 6:16-21, the apostles also experienced the forces of nature, but that wasn’t their only source of fear. Let’s examine the experiences of the disciples that evening, and their responses, in the light of what preceded it.

I. THE SETTING (verses 16-17)

Jesus had just finished feeding 5000 men, together with their wives and children, with five barley cakes (“tortillas”) and two fish (“dried sardines”), and His disciples gathered twelve baskets full of leftovers (one basket apiece). They saw the power and the provision that only God could provide in such a miraculous way, and were reminded of God’s faithful provision of the manna to their ancestors in the wilderness for forty years. Another lesson was taught them by Jesus, and now it was time for another examination to determine whether the lesson was learned and would be put into application.

You might call this a “stress test” or a “distress test”. I like to think of it as a “practicum” – putting into practice the things they had learned. Immediately after the disciples came back with the baskets of fragments from the meal, John writes, in verses 14 and 15, that the people were saying that Jesus must be the Messiah. Jesus realized their intent to take Him by force and make Him king, so He “withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.” Mark’s gospel fills in a few details that are missing. Mark 6:45-46 says, “And immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the multitude away. And after bidding them farewell, He departed to the mountain to pray.” The Lord Jesus told His disciples to get in the boat and leave immediately because He didn’t want His disciples to get caught up in the frenzy of the crowd to make Him king. It still wasn’t clear in their minds that Jesus was the Son of God.

Jesus’ purpose for going up on the mountain was to pray. Jesus was truly a man of prayer. As you read through the Gospels you will find that He often spent time communicating with the Father in prayer, sometimes spending the whole night in prayer. His disciples recognized this and asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray”.

Going back to John’s gospel, verses 16 and 17 tell us, “Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. And it had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.” During the time of the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, sunset was at about 7:00 p.m. So the stage is set: Jesus is on the mountain, they are in the boat on the Sea of Galilee, and it’s dark.

II. THE STORM (verses 18-19a)

Verse 18 says, “And the sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.” The Sea of Galilee is situated below sea level in a bowl in the hills. Winds can travel up the valley of the Jordan River at great speeds. Not only that, but I’ve read that cold air can suddenly come rushing down from the mountains surrounding the Sea of Galilee and collide with the warm, moist air rising from the surface of the water. The Sea of Galilee is also relatively shallow, so the waters can become stirred up very quickly. Add up all those factors and you have “Trouble with a capital T!” This storm must have taken the disciples by surprise. Was Jesus surprised by the storm? Not at all! Sending them into the storm was their exam. He was testing their faith to see if they learned the lessons He was teaching them, and had come to a true understanding of Who He was.

Several of Jesus’ disciples were expert sailors and they knew that they had better get the boat to the other side of the lake as soon as possible. They had been in a similar situation recently, but on that occasion Jesus was with them in the boat, sleeping. This time He’s on the mountain. What were they going to do?

Rather than calling upon God and trusting in Him to provide for their need, they keep on rowing. They’re going to get themselves out of this situation on their own! This wind and these waves aren’t going to get the best of them! They are failing the test but they’re not ready to give up yet! Does Jesus know that there is a storm on the Sea of Galilee? Yes, He certainly does. Mark 6:48 begins with the words, “and seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them”. How can Jesus see them if it’s dark and stormy, and they are in the middle of the lake? Good question! It’s the Passover celebration. The Passover is also called the new moon celebration. When God sent Moses and the people of Israel out of Egypt, He provided a full moon to light the way for them. From His vantage point on the top of the mountain, Jesus could see them by the light of a full moon. Then, why doesn’t He do something about it? He is: He’s praying for them! As a wise and caring Teacher, He’s also giving them extra time to complete and pass the test!

Let me give you a mental picture of the examination scene at this time. The apostles are in the boat rowing with their backs to the wind and their faces pointed in the direction of the dock where they had embarked for their cruise across the lake. Little do they know that Jesus is looking at their faces and watching them as He continues to pray for them.

Have you ever run on a treadmill or an elliptical machine? If you have, I imagine that you’ve thought about the fact that you’re running hard and are becoming exhausted, but you aren’t going anywhere. You’re still in the same place where you started! There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’ve talked to people who have those machines but still like to run outdoors in good weather. They do so not only because they like the change in scenery, but also because of a greater sense of accomplishment that comes from arriving at a destination rather than reaching a time limit or going the distance based on the odometer reading. If you compare this illustration with the situation of the disciples, it’s as if they’re on a rowing machine, rowing hard and steadily, but going nowhere! The boat they were in was probably one of the boats used for carrying passengers across the Sea of Galilee. If so, it would normally be large enough to hold 12 passengers and had oars rather than a sail. The Greek word refers to a “small boat” These boats could easily become swamped in a storm because they were not as high above the water and as sturdy as many of the fishing boats.

From Matthew, Mark, and John’s gospels, we learn that they are in the middle of the lake and it’s now the fourth watch of the night. The fourth watch begins at 3:00 in the morning. They started crossing the lake at about 7:00 the previous evening, so they’ve been rowing for eight hours or more! Mark 6:48 states that Jesus “saw them straining at the oars”. They must have been completely exhausted but they hadn’t learned the lesson from the feeding of the 5000. They failed another test because they failed to bring their need to God in prayer and trust Him to meet that need. They failed to follow the teaching and the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This brings back to my mind a course I took in college as a Business major. The course was Business Communications, and it was taught by a professor who had been a journalist. As he gave us our first business letter to compose, he told us his grading system. Then he said, “There is no excuse for misspelled words or wrong punctuation. A misspelled word is an automatic F (a failing grade). Each punctuation error would reduce the grade for the paper by one letter-grade.” Most of the students, including myself, didn’t pay heed to his words, and over half the class failed the first assignment because of misspelled words and wrong punctuation. Needless to say, we students got out our dictionaries and brushed up on our English grammar for the remaining assignments! We learned the hard way to heed his warning, follow his advice, and not be overly confident in our own abilities!

III. THE RESCUE (verses 19b-22)

The examination is now over. When I was in high school, several of my teachers were in the habit of leaving their desks when the bell rang, walking down the aisles in the classroom, collecting the tests, and then taking them back to their desks. In this case, Jesus was going to collect His disciples and bring them to the other side of the lake, but in a very unusual and miraculous way.

The second half of verse 19 says, “they beheld Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened.” Mark’s gospel gives more details: “He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were frightened.” Jesus’ timing is perfect, as always. He comes to them at the moment when they have finally given up hope. They were in the middle of the lake and all their efforts were getting them nowhere. They were physically exhausted, emotionally drained, and spiritually unreceptive. They weren’t prepared for what was going to happen next. Suddenly, they see something that their minds refuse to believe. Jesus is walking toward them against the wind as if there were no wind at all, and walking on top of the water as if the water was dry ground! The wind and the waves are having no effect on Him. Their response was to cry out in terror, imagining that Jesus was a ghost. The Greek word is “phantasma”. We get our English word “phantom” from that word.

Why did they respond in such a way to Jesus? For one, they weren’t expecting Him because they failed to pray to God and trust in the power and authority of His Son to meet their need and rescue them. The second reason is given in Mark 6:52, which says, “their hearts were hardened”. They hadn’t learned the lesson from the loaves and fishes. They tried to overcome the storm their way, and now they concluded that it was an impossible and hopeless situation. It was impossible alright, humanly speaking, but it wasn’t hopeless!

Why did Jesus choose to walk to them on the water? He could have saved Himself a lot of time and effort if He had just appeared in their boat, or called out to the wind and waves in a voice loud enough for them to hear, telling the wind and waves to quiet down. That’s what He did in the previous storm (see Mark 5:39). Jesus walked to them on top of the water in order to give them a visual demonstration that the things they now feared, (the wind and the waves), were completely under His control. Jesus was showing them something that only God could do; and in response to their terror, He said, in John 6:20, “It is I, do not be afraid.” Jesus spoke those words to them in Hebrew, and He was literally saying to them, “I AM, do not be afraid”. The Lord Jesus was using God’s covenant name, pronounced “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”, and was applying it to Himself.

In Exodus 3:13, Moses asked God, “What is your name that the people may know that you are the true God, and that you have sent me to them?” God answered Moses with these words: “Say to the people of Israel, ‘I AM (Yahweh), the God of your fathers . . . has sent me to you.” The name Yahweh suggests, first of all, that there is no cause for God’s existence outside Himself; but the name had a much more personal meaning than that. Yahweh is the God who is near to His people, close to them, and available to them in time of need. He controlled the forces of nature for them when He parted the Red Sea, provided manna for them to eat, and stopped the Jordan River so that they could enter the promised land.

During the previous storm, when Jesus was in the boat with them, He rebuked the wind and the waves, telling them to become calm, and they immediately obeyed His voice. In response, His disciples asked the question, “What kind of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:27) Now, after seeing Jesus walking on water and hearing those words from His mouth, the disciples answer their own question when they say, “You are certainly God’s Son!”, and they worshipped Him. (Matthew 14:33). This is the first time Jesus is called the Son of God by His disciples.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk on water? Other than Jesus, Peter is the only one who knows, and his experience didn’t last very long (Matthew 14:29-31)! When the two of them got into the boat, it was apparently close to the shore – another amazing occurrence! The rescue was now over.

LESSONS TO LEARN AND APPLY:

Before we consider the fear of the disciples, and our own fears as well, I think we should all thank God for giving us the emotion of fear. He has given us, as well as many of the animals He created, a built-in alarm system to warn us of danger. It was designed by Him for the purpose of protection and preservation. It’s natural for us to be afraid in times of danger, and there are times when we, as human beings, should choose to follow our fears. There are also times when we should choose to overcome our fears by the power of God. A question we need to ask ourselves honestly is “What do I fear, and why do I fear it?” Then write those fears and the reasons for them on a sheet of paper so that we can sort them out and think about them. Only then can we ask the question, “How should I respond to those fears, in the light of God’s Word?”

The first lesson given in this passage of Scripture is one on prayer. Jesus was up on the mountain praying. I think His first request to the Father was that the apostles would realize their helplessness and turn to the Father in faith, asking Him to rescue them. When they failed to do so and they were about to drown, I believe that Jesus’ second request to the Father was that the Father might use Him to rescue them and show them that He was truly the Son of God. His request might have been something like this: “Father, give me the power and authority to walk on the water to rescue them so that You and I might be glorified.” Or maybe He just asked for their deliverance and the Father told Him what to do in answer to that prayer. We don’t know for sure, but we do know that God answered His prayers. Jesus’ prayers “held a lot of weight” in the eyes of His Father because of the close relationship and deep trust between them.

What’s the value of our prayers to God? How much weight do our believing prayers have in God’s sight? Many years ago Henry Bosch shared the following true story which he entitled “Weighing A Prayer”.

Soon after World War II, a tired-looking woman entered a store and asked the owner for enough food to make a Christmas dinner for her children. When he inquired how much money she could afford, she answered, “My husband was killed in the war. Truthfully, I have nothing to offer but a little prayer.” The man was not very sentimental, for a grocery store cannot be run like a breadline. So he said, “Write your prayer on a paper.” To his surprise she plucked a little folded note out of her pocket and handed it to him, saying, “I already did that during the night while I was watching over my sick baby.” As the manager took the paper, an idea struck him. Without even reading the prayer, he put it on the weigh side of his old-fashioned scales, saying, “We shall see how much food this is worth.” To his surprise, it would not go down when he put a loaf of bread on the other side. To his even greater astonishment, it would not balance though he added many more items. Finally, he blurted out, “Well, that’s all the scales will hold anyway. Here’s a bag. You’ll have to put them in yourself. I’m busy.” With a tearful “thank you,” the lady went happily on her way. The grocer later found out that the balance was out of order. As the years passed, however, he wondered if that really was the solution. Why did the woman have the prayer already written to satisfy his premeditated demands? Why did she come in at exactly the time the mechanism was broken? Frequently he looks at that slip of paper upon which the prayer was written, for amazingly enough, it reads, “Please, dear Lord, give us this day our daily bread!”

Has God ever answered your prayers in unusual or unexpected ways? God delights in answering believing prayer for the supply of our needs. The apostle Paul reminds us of this in Philippians 4:19, which says, “And my God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Our God is very rich and very generous! Don’t let a need go by without asking Him to supply!

The second lesson comes in answer to the question, “Why didn’t the disciples pray to God when the storm began?” “Pride” is the answer to that question. Two popular sayings probably describe their attitude: “I’ll do it my way”, and “I’d rather do it myself”. I could understand if they kept rowing for 15 minutes in the hope that the storm might die down, but not for eight hours! That’s ridiculous! Are you filled with pride in yourself and would rather be independent of God? Are you drowning in your own sins, but unwilling to lift a hand in prayer to the only One who can reach down and pull you out of the dark waters of separation from God for eternity? I hope and pray that you will reconsider your attitude and your situation, and choose to put your life in His hands and under His control.

The third and last lesson applies to fear. I’m sure that we would all agree that fears come in many different forms, and can affect us in many different ways. Do you find yourself controlled, or hindered by various forms of fear, such as fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of change, or fear of what others may think? Fears can be tied to the past, the present, or the future. Worry is also a form of fear. Worry has been defined as “a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere. The apostle Peter tells us in I Peter 5:7 to “cast all our anxieties on Him (the Lord Jesus Christ), for He cares for you.”

Proverbs 29:25 tells us that “the fear of man will prove to be a snare.” It can drain us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This incident of the storm, in John 6, tells us that we can banish our fears by recognizing and relying upon the faithful presence, power, and providence of God. Let me close by sharing a few other Scripture passages with you that tell us how to respond to fear in our lives. Psalm 16:8 says, “I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” In Psalm 23:4 king David says, “I fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Psalm 34:4 reads, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. You may also want to read and memorize Isaiah 41:10.

It may also encourage you to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is praying for you right now (Hebrews 7:25). Some day, the Lord Jesus will come for us, take us to His heavenly haven of rest, and the storms of life will be over forever. I hope that I’ll see you there!

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THE FINAL THREE PROOFS OF DEITY – John 5:36-40

Bible sermons, Evidence that Jesus Christ is God, John 5:36-40

INTRODUCTION:

Hans Christian Andersen wrote a fairy tale about a young woman who was tested to determine whether or not she was truly a princess. You may be familiar with the story: “The Princess and the Pea”. Actually, the literal translation of the title of his story, from Danish to English, is “The Princess on the Pea”, and that title describes the story more clearly. If you are unfamiliar with the story or would like to refresh your memory, click the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waw0U9tKpW0. You will watch a very short and concise summary of the story with sketches. The “pressure test” proved positive and the prince married the princess. Don’t you love happy endings?

As you can well imagine, it’s going to take much more than a “pea” to prove that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the King of heaven and earth. During this conversation with the leaders of the Jews, Jesus has already given them three “signs”, or witnesses of His deity, and He has three more to go. “Like 3 peas in a pod”, these next three witnesses are very closely related to one other Let’s see what else He has to say about Himself in this passage of Scripture: John 5:36-40.

I. THE MIRACLES (verse 36)

The Lord Jesus has already shared with them His own witness concerning Himself, and also John the Baptist’s testimony about Him. But the courtroom imagery isn’t over yet. Jesus is still surrounded by His accusers for healing a person on the Sabbath, and they are still not convinced that He has the authority to do such things on the Lord’s day.

Jesus now presents His own works as proof that He is the promised Messiah, the Son of God. In verse 36 we read, “But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” When we think of Jesus’ works, we naturally think of His miracles because they were examples of His divine power. As Nicodemus said to Jesus in John 3:2, “No one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” We are told in John 10:41 that John the Baptist worked no miracles. However, the Bible does record specific miracles performed by ordinary men, such as Moses, Elijah, and the apostles Peter and Paul. Do those miracles also prove that they are also sent from God? Yes, they do, but none of these men ever claimed to be the Son of God. No true servant of God would ever make that claim; but Jesus did, and His mighty works are evidence that His claim is true. One who is able to raise the dead by the words from His mouth must have all power, and the One who sent Him must be God. His works are a “greater witness than that of John” – being stronger, and more decisive evidence.

The word that is translated “works” in my Bible, is the Greek word “erga”. This word encompasses more than just the miracles of Christ. It includes His whole purpose for being sent by the Father – including His birth, life, teachings, death, and resurrection. It refers to His whole ministry on this earth. We see that perspective in the words that Jesus says in His prayer to the Father in John 17:4, “I have glorified Thee on earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.” The Lord Jesus was a Man on a mission. What about you? What is your mission in life? Have you given it much thought? Have you ever put your mission in writing so that you can compare it to the way you live each day: the way you use your time, spend your money, choose your friends? You might find that to be a challenging and rewarding assignment. The Lord Jesus is giving us an Example to follow. His mission must have been very clearly delineated in order for Him to be able to confidently say that He had accomplished it.

II. THE WITNESS OF THE FATHER (verses 37-38)

The next witness that Jesus brings to their attention (again) is God the Father. He has called God His Father many times already, and their response has been anger and threats. They don’t want to believe His words; they don’t even want to hear them! I’m amazed at Jesus’ patience and persistence, because He tells them again for the umpteenth time! Here are His words in verse 37: “And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen Him.”

Jesus is still surrounded by the leaders of the Jews. That’s an intimidating situation for Him, but He will not back down from His claims, and He will not deny Himself nor withhold His witnesses! He keeps telling them the truth whether they like it or not! Let’s look at the first phrase in verse 37: “And the Father who sent me”. I believe that Jesus is saying, “I’ve already established the fact that the Father sent Me. Let’s move on! It’s no longer a theorem but a fact!” You may be familiar with the abbreviation QED. It comes from the Latin words, “Quod erat demonstrondum”, which mean, “what has been demonstrated”. When my high-school math teacher wrote QED in large letters on the blackboard after solving a math problem, he was saying, “It’s been proven! It’s obvious! Let’s move on to the next problem!”

Moving on, I can sense, from Jesus’ words and the way He phrases them, that He is getting angry at the hardness of their hearts. We’ll see that anger increase until it reaches a crescendo in verse 40. This is no “gentle reproof” that He’s about to express to them. It’s a scathing rebuke! I think I even see some sarcasm and irony in His words also. As we look at HIs words more closely, I think you’ll agree with me that “they had it comin’ to ’em!”

I can feel a biting sarcasm in the words “You have neither heard HIs voice at any time, nor seen Him.” There was a voice from the Father at Jesus’ baptism: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Near the end of Jesus’ life, in John 12:28, Jesus asks the Father, “Glorify Thy name”, and a voice comes from heaven again saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” In this case, most of the multitude that heard it said that “it had thundered”. I wonder if they used that same excuse at His baptism. It’s as if Jesus is implying, “Are you saying that My Father doesn’t speak loudly enough and doesn’t enunciate His words clearly enough for you to understand what He is saying, and that He is the One who said it?” I doubt that anyone present at those two occasions could forget the words that the Father had said. I also believe that those listeners told everyone they knew the words they had heard. It’s not every day that God speaks from heaven in a loud voice for everyone to hear!

Jesus adds, “nor seen His form”. Later, when Philip says, “Show us the Father”, Jesus responds by saying, “He who sees Me, sees the Father”. Could Jesus be saying here to his accusers, “You’re looking Me in the face, but you don’t see the Father; you don’t recognize the Father in Me?” There are other interpretations of this verse of Scripture, and I don’t claim to be an authority. I’ve come to this personal understanding based on Jesus’ rising anger and the increasing sharpness of His words to them.

In verse 38, Jesus is saying, “that’s not all” – “And you do not have His words abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.” God’s words were on their lips but not in their hearts. When you think about the life and the words of Christ, who were the ones who received the most scathing rebukes from Him? Was it not the hypocrites? And who were the greatest hypocrites of His time? Were they not the Scribes and the Pharisees?

In any great forest, you will find many huge trees. They tower above other trees and appear to be the very picture of strength and maturity. However, loggers will sometimes not even bother to cut down these huge trees. At first one wonders, “Why leave them? After all, a tree that big must contain twice or thrice the amount of lumber as a smaller tree.”

The reason is simple. Huge trees are often rotten on the inside. They are the hollow trees that children’s picture books show raccoons living in. And they are the trees that are often blown over in a strong windstorm because, while they appear to be the picture of strength, in fact, their hollowness makes them weak. This is the essence of hypocrisy – appearing strong on the outside, but being hollow and rotten on the inside. Even so, the Scribes and Pharisees standing around Him didn’t have God’s Word abiding in them. As I said earlier, it was on their lips but not in their hearts. It wasn’t genuine. They appeared righteous and scholarly on the outside, and people looked up to them because of this, but they were hollow, empty, and rotten on the inside.

III. THE WITNESS OF THE SCRIPTURES (verses 39-40)

Jesus’ anger is still rising as He says these words to His accusers, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life”. A few versions of the Bible translate verse 39 as a command: “Search the Scriptures”, but this does not fit the context. He’s rebuking them and ridiculing them for the way they study the Scriptures, and for the conclusions they make. The Lord Jesus uses the plural word, “Scriptures” to refer to the whole Old Testament, composed of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Rabbis of that day studied the Old Testament Scriptures very meticulously, examining how many words were on a line and on a page; how many of each letter and of each word were on a line, a page, or the whole book. They followed many of the techniques that the scribes used when copying the Scriptures. Their purpose was to demonstrate to others how well they knew all the minute details of the Scriptures. For many of the Rabbis, it was a way of exalting themselves and causing others to be amazed at their knowledge of the Scriptures, coming to the conclusion that they must be very close to God.

I read a story about an 18-year-old boy who was deeply interested in scientific subjects, especially astronomy. So his father bought him a very expensive telescope. Since the boy had also studied optics, he found the instrument to be very intriguing. He took it apart, examined the lenses, and made detailed calculations on the distance of its point of focus. He became so absorbed in gaining a technical knowledge of the telescope itself that he never got around to looking at the stars. He knew a lot about that fine instrument, but he missed seeing the wonders of the heavens. He overlooked the purpose for which that telescope was made.

In a similar way, these Jewish leaders missed the purpose for which the Old Testament Scriptures had been given and written down. The word translated “searched” is the Greek word “ereunao”. It was sometimes used to refer to a lion or a dog tracking its prey by scent (smell). Jesus was telling them that they had “lost the scent” but had chosen to continue on anyway, and they were going down the wrong trail! They needed to retrace their steps, pick up the scent again, and follow that trail to where it really leads – to Him. “It is they (the Scriptures) that bear witness to Me.” Jesus is saying that the Scriptures are not an end in themselves; they are a means to an end. They are like a signpost pointing directly to Christ and telling us about Him. Wouldn’t it be a shame to be so taken up with measuring, studying, and admiring the signpost, that we don’t notice or pay heed to the message that’s written on the signpost, nor do what it says?

A little girl bought a Bible to give to her father for his birthday. When she opened it to write him a note, she wasn’t sure what to say. “From Mary” seemed to lack feeling. “From your little daughter” would not be right because he had told her she was getting to be a big girl. Then she thought, “From one who loves you.” But others loved him too. She went to her father’s library and pulled one of his favorite books from the shelf. On the flyleaf, she read, “From the Author.” That was it!

When the young girl’s father opened the gift and saw, in Mary’s handwriting, “From the Author,” he thought to himself, “I’m not acquainted with the Author of the Bible.” That thought prompted him to begin studying God’s Word, which led to his conversion. He came to know the Author.

As it was in Jesus’s time on earth, so it is today. There are many people today who study the Bible for educational purposes only, rather than for relational purposes. They know the Book but aren’t personally acquainted with its Author.

Now comes another rebuke to the Scribes and Pharisees in verse 40: “Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” I sense some irony in Jesus’ words. He’s giving them an invitation. In spite of all the things they have said and done, Jesus is giving them another opportunity to come to Him to receive life from the true Source of eternal life. John Calvin said these words, “In order to come from spiritual death to spiritual life, it is necessary to come to Jesus.” The Scriptures don’t give life; they point to the Giver of life. Jesus is telling them that He is the only way to eternal life.

What is their response to His invitation? They stubbornly, obstinately, and intentionally refused to do so. They would rather be “dead wrong” than change. They preferred to stay in their own darkness and turn their backs to the light. No wonder Jesus is so angry at them. He offers them eternal life and receives a “slap in the face” in return.

I’m placing a clickable link to the movie, The Gospel of John, again because I think it captures the emotion of the moment and gives a good visual depiction of this confrontation. If you click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYrvOsc-rCU and then move the timeline at the bottom of the picture to the right until you get to 40:20 (40 minutes, 20 seconds), there you will see this passage of Scripture being enacted. It has left a lasting impression on my mind. I hope it will do so on your minds also.

CONCLUSION:

The Lord Jesus has given us five witnesses of His deity. If you are not a Christian, it should be obvious to you that the solution has been given. You have a choice to make. You can accept and respond to Jesus Christ as the Son of God by repenting of your sins and turning your life over to His control. The result will be a life-changing experience. You will experience joy and peace such as you have never experienced before, and your desire will be to know Him more fully through the study of His Word, and enjoy Him and serve Him for the rest of your life. Whatever you give up will be considered of no significance compared to what you gain. The only other choice is to refuse Him and face the consequences. Putting it off is, in a sense, refusal because there is no good reason to do so, and it won’t be a good excuse if you should die in the next moment. Please respond to what is obviously true, and don’t let personal pride, or the fear of what others may think, get in the way of the most important decision of your life. The Lord Jesus wants you to come to Him. Please don’t refuse His request.

Fellow Christians, we are the sixth witness of the deity of Christ. Our changed lives, our devotion to God, and our joy in the midst of the trials of life are a “miracle” to those around us. Jesus tells us that “we are the light of the world”. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). LET IT SHINE, LET IT SHINE, LET IT SHINE!

CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED

Thank you for visiting this completed site: John 5:36-40. You are welcome to take a walk around the block and visit the other finished projects. It’s a nice day for physical and spiritual exercise. Hope to see you in this neighborhood again soon!