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A Witness Greater than John: Summary of John 5:31-47
Freelance writer/Speaker
Read John 5:31-47
Jesus continued His reply to the Jews who were angry for His healing on the Sabbath day. He had made strong statements regarding His abilities and purpose and had already stated several times that God was/is His Father.
In this last section of chapter five, He drove His point straight through the hearts of the people in that He challenged their professed belief in God, Moses, and the Scriptures.
He began with talking about the witness of John the Baptist and how they willingly accepted his word, but because He had begun to do such great works, they were no longer willing to believe. Jesus told them that the current witness was better than John because God himself was witness by the miracles He gave His son to perform. They were to prove His claim as the Son of God.
These people prided themselves at knowing the Scriptures, but then by their actions, proved they didn't truly believe them, for if they did, they would have gladly received Jesus as their Messiah. There are many of us like this today. We profess a belief in God, and even hold claim to a specific Christian denomination, yet by our actions, we clearly deny God.
This was the first of many times Jesus would use Moses and the prophets as witness against the religious leaders of His day. It also serves as a witness against all of humanity today - in that we have a tendency to receive the lies of men, rather than the truth of God about Jesus. What will we do about it? Do we search the Scriptures or religion, only to come to our own conclusion and turn away from the truth and follow the lie?
At the beginning of chapter five I stated that many people claim that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God, nor did he try and sway people to follow Him. As we have seen through this chapter Jesus did just this, and this was just the beginning. As we continue through the book of John, we will see just how many times Jesus reached out to man. Additionally, there is a lot of information in the other Gospels not recorded in the book of John.
I encourage you to read through chapters 1-5. Make a list of how many times Jesus claimed eternal life came through the Son, and how many times He identified Himself as the Son. Keep this list and add to it any time you read the Gosples. It won't take long to realize we are being lied to by the skeptics.
Join us for the discussion questions as we look to other passages that build upon this information and the claims Jesus made.
Until then, what is on your mind? Please share your thoughts and insights with us.
(C) Teresa Ortiz - Book of John Study 2011. All rights reserved.
Article submitted Sunday, April 17, 2011 & read 256 times.
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