It Is Not A Matter Of Evidence (John 5:30-47)
The context of this entire speech given by Jesus is that the people wanted to kill Him.
“This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:18 ESV)
Jesus and the accusers did understand that it was not enough for Jesus to testify concerning Himself. There needed to be witnesses. And this passage is Jesus calling forth the witnesses to Him being equal with the Father.
“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” (Deuteronomy 19:15 ESV)
Some commentators believe Jesus to be calling forth the Father alone as a witness to His being equal with God. But that would not be in keeping with what Jesus is doing here. Jesus is calling forth multiple witnesses to His being equal with God. All of these witnesses are sent by God, but they come to us as separate witnesses to who Jesus is.
But this is not all that happens here. What we see in this passage digs deep into the human heart. It digs deep into the condition of humanity and speaks to our sinfulness and rebellion.
Unbelief is not a matter of evidence. It is a matter of will. No matter how many witnesses God sent, they would still not believe. And the same is true for people today.
As Augustine famously said, “to will is of nature, but to will aright is of grace.”
In other words, you can wheel cartloads of evidence before an unbeliever and they won’t believe. They might even admit that your evidence is compelling. But they will still not believe. Today we will see that the evidence is there, but if the will to believe is not there then the person will remain in rebellion.
The witnesses to Christ were plenty, but they still would not believe.
And the same is oftentimes true for us today. The witnesses to Christ are plenty, but often they still will not believe.
There Are Plenty Of Witnesses to Christ
The Jews that were in conversation with Jesus here, angry that He made Himself equal with the Father, had been given a lot of evidence that Jesus was who He claimed to be. And Jesus brings forth a barrage of witnesses that confirm these facts.
He began with the Father (John 5:30). Jesus again proclaimed that He did only what He hears from the Father after having already stated that He only does what He sees the Father doing. He is only doing what the Father does.
Now Jesus brings forward a human witness, a man sent from the Father to testify of Christ (John 5:32-36). Jesus knows that John the Baptist’s testimony is correct (John 5:32). And we know that these people had gone out to see John (John 5:33). Remember, this happened at around the time Jesus was baptized.
Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t need man’s testimony. But He did confirm John the Baptist’s testimony for a significant reason. It was for His hearers. He desired their salvation (John 5:34).
John the Baptist was a light shining the truth to them (John 5:35). God had given them this light and they even went to go hear him. But they did not take it seriously (John 5:35). Jesus said that they rejoiced in his light, but did not pay attention to what was said.
What was it that John the Baptist said,
“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 ESV)
John had declared to these very same people the glorious salvation that is found in Jesus Christ. He declared to them the good news of salvation found in Him alone. Jesus was the Lamb of God that would take away sin. They heard the message, but did not pay attention to it.
Now the Father is called forth as a witness. The Father had Himself given Jesus work to accomplish. And these works themselves bear forth that Jesus was sent by the Father and equal with the Father.
The Father bore witness to Jesus at Jesus’s baptism (John 5:37). We discussed this a few weeks back. The Father and the Holy Spirit testified to Jesus verbally. In spoken word, the Father testified to the Son. And they did not believe it.
But they treated the Scriptures the same way (John 5:39). The Scriptures themselves bear witness to Christ. It’s not that they truth is not there. It is that they refuse to see it. They refuse to come to Christ whom the Scriptures bear witness to (John 5:40). And their refusal to come to Christ, who is revealed in the Word is proof that they do not have the love of the Father in them (John 5:42-43).
And then Jesus called forth Moses as a witness. Moses is a special character for the Israelites. If you were to ask a Christian who the greatest character of the Old Testament is and they would likely say that it is Abraham. But the Jew will say Moses. In Moses the laws and regulations come. And they believed that in these regulations, they would have life. But even moses will testify against them (John 5:45). If they had really paid attention to Moses they would have believed in Jesus. But the reality is that they don’t even believe His words (John 5:47).
“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–just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19 ESV)
This passage explicitly looks forward to Jesus. But it is not the only way that Moses spoke of Jesus. The sacrifices he wrote about pointed forward to Jesus. The Temple pointed forward to Jesus. Even the rock struck in the wilderness pointed to Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:4). The evidence was there, but they would not believe it.
Evidence abounded for the people of Israel. The Scriptures that these people so ardently held to proclaimed Christ throughout. They had all the evidence they should have needed to turn to the Savior.
Moses testified of Jesus.
The Scriptures testified of Jesus.
John the Baptist testified of Jesus.
God the Father testified of Jesus.
What more could they need to trust in Jesus?
But the same could be said of people today.
The evidence of the Creator abounds.
I have recently been astounded by the way our DNA folds based upon where we are or what we are doing. DNA, as you know is long strands of information telling our cells to do certain things. And we have only recently figured out that these strands fold in different ways to change what our cells are doing. We have often not really understood how certain creatures can change climates and adapt quickly. And we now understand that the creature was preprogrammed to make these adaptations.
There is no possible way that something this extraordinary could happen without a Creator that is wise beyond our imagination.
Nor is there any possible way to explain how lungs, heart, kidneys, and liver developed apart from each other. They need each other. We had to be created by someone with wisdom far beyond our understanding.
The evidence for God abounds. But so does the evidence for the resurrection.
The most compelling evidence for the resurrection in my mind is that the disciples of Jesus really believed that He rose from the grave. We have eyewitness testimony in the gospels from people that died for believing this.
Evidence can abound and people still not believe. Because it’s not a matter of evidence.
We have this idea that we can put forward all the right facts and people will agree with us. We seem to think that if we hand people all the right information they will trust in Jesus. But this is not what we see here, nor is it what we see in the rest of Scripture.
“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:18-32 ESV)
Why is rejection of God everywhere? Why is morality see throughout our society? Is it because the facts are unconvincing? Or is there a moral element to faith in Christ?
Well, according to Romans 1, there is a moral element to faith. People are in rebellion against God and blind in their unbelief.
God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He loved a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose from the grave. He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. These are the facts of the gospel and without God’s intervention, though the evidence for the truth of these claims abound, they will not believe.
Evidence Doesn’t Change The Will (John 5:40, 43, 44)
Despite all the evidence, they refused to believe (John 5:40). Despite all the evidence, they did not receive Him (John 5:43). And then we see the reason why.
Apparently, instead of giving glory to God and believing in Jesus, they did something else. They gave glory to one another rather than seeking glory form God (John 5:44). And this is a terrifying reminder that, if anything at all in this life is more important than following God, then you will choose that. And apparently, looking good in the eyes of others was keeping them from trusting Christ.
I was going door to door and sharing the gospel with people years ago when I was confronted with a man that wanted to argue. He brought up a few different reasons why he did not believe it. I asked him if he’d like to hear my response to those things and he said that he would. And the responses took away his reasons for not believing.
At this point he started to talk about other reasons he didn’t believe. And I responded to these as well.
He then told me why he didn’t believe. He had stolen something and was headed to jail. God didn’t answer his prayer to keep him out of prison. I was shocked. I have never heard a person so quickly admit that their reason for unbelief was not intellectual, people always say they have a reason. This was the first time I’d talked with a person that had done an assessment and truly stated why they didn’t believe. God let him serve justice for his crime. He was angry, therefore he wouldn’t give allegiance to Jesus.
I look out at our society and see a multitude of people living in rebellion against the Lord. I see people dancing in rainbow flags and acting out leud things in front of an onlooking world. I see professors advocating for the mutilations of the genitals of children. I see people arguing that there is no Heaven above or Hell below.
But they are not doing so because they lack evidence. They have made a decision much like that of those listening to Jesus in this discussion. They have heard the message of the gospel, they have seen the evidence of the truth of Jesus’s claims. And they will not believe. They lack the will to do so.
Is bringing forth evidence important? Absolutely. We should seek to bring forth the evidence of God’s existence and the truth of Christ’s claims.
“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” (1 Peter 3:14-16 ESV)
But all the evidence we can muster will not be enough for many people. Some will not believe.
If anything in your life is more important than following Jesus then you will not follow Jesus.
If it’s more important for you to look intelligent to those around you, then you will not make a decision to follow Jesus and look like a fool in their eyes. That seems to be what happened with those in our Scripture today.
“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44 ESV)
If it’s more important for you to live in sin and rebellion, if you cherish your sin more than you long to follow Jesus then you will not follow Jesus. And how many times do we see that very thing today? How many times will a man not enter the doors of a church because he doesn’t want to stop fornicating, watching pornography, getting drunk, or being strung out? How often does a man avoid Jesus because He doesn’t want to give up His sin?
If it’s more important for you to live in luxury and leisure then you will not follow Jesus. I once had a conversation with Evelyn in which she commented that a lot of people she knew quit going to church when they bought a camper because they quit going to church for a spring and summer then got accustomed to the leisure time.
As J.C. Ryle said,
“The plain truth is that the chief seat of unbelief is the heart.” (J.C. Ryle)
And here is the call to us today. It is a call to die. It is a call to die to self and personal desires that draw us away from Jesus. It is a call to see Him as supreme in all things, including our lives. It is a call to abandon anything that takes His rightful place as first in our lives and hearts.
And it is also a call to quit thinking that we can do everything on our own.
We are called to take the gospel to the people of Conway, Arkansas and beyond. The command is to make disciples of the nations and somehow we think that if we do things just right then that’s exactly what we will do.
But that’s not the end of the matter. If it’s left only to us, then we will utterly fail.
I am a studier. I love sitting down with a passage of Scripture, reading about the historical context, looking into the language issues, and reading commentaries from a variety of different times and backgrounds to deliver a sermon. If my schedule allows it, that is how I spend my time on Monday morning. Sometimes, if other things happen on Monday, then that spills into Tuesday. On Monday, I am filling my head with information that will roll around up there and be worked with for the rest of the week.
But if all I had were information to give to you on Sunday Morning, then precious little would happen to your souls. No one would come to faith in Christ. Lives would not be changed. Hearts would not be broken to repent and seek the Lord. If all I gave you was information week after week, then nothing significant would happen.
We are to be faithful in our work. I am to be faithful to preach God’s Word to you week after week. But nothing will happen if God does not work. Nothing will happen if hearts are not changed. Nothing will happen unless there is a move of God in this place.
Speaking of the people that heard Jesus, J.C. Ryle said,
“Hard must those hearts have been which could hear such testimony, and yet remain unmoved! But it only proves the truth of the old saying—that unbelief does not arise from want of evidence, but from want of will to believe.”-J.C. Ryle
Conclusion
Why do we as Christians, that understand there is more to this life than flesh and blood, end up acting like all there is to this life is flesh and blood?
Why do we act as if we could say just the right thing then people will believe?
Why do we think that the spiritual war that we wage will be won with physical weapons?
Why do we think that we can just do it on our own?
We need to be faithful. We need to study our Bibles and think through objections that people have. I even believe that we should answer every objection that people have with great patience.
But that won’t be enough for a person to trust in Jesus. Unbelief is in the heart. It is a matter of the will. And God changes hearts.
This passage should fill us with dismay and an understanding of how our mission is to be accomplished. We go in dependence upon the Lord, not in our own power.
Church, we must pray! If we would see the power of God, we must pray! If we would see the lost saved, we must pray!