Today we are picking back up with verse 30 with the possibility of two resurrections, a thought that has not been covered before by us. So put awaken your spiritual eyes and ears and think on these things. Jesus is speaking here and He speaks of there being four witnesses within the text of chapter 5. These being John, works, the Father, and Scripture, see if you can find them.
John 5:30, 31-47 (Jesus is speaking) "'I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?'" (KJV)
John 5:30, 31-47 (Jesus is speaking) "'I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?'" (ESV)
John 5:30, 31-47 (Jesus is speaking) "'The dynamic of my doing is in my union with my Father; my intimate acquaintance with his voice is what inspires me - as I hear, I discern and my judgment is just; there is no conflicting interest here - my Father's commission is my mission in life! (Proverbs 20:12 "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both." Hebrews 5:8 Acquainted with sonship he was in the habit of hearing from above; what he heard distanced him from the effect of what he had suffered. ( The often translated as obedience is the word, upoakuo, under the influence of hearing, or hearing from above. "By" the things he suffered, apo, away from, distanced. "Then I said, I read in your book what you wrote about me; so here I am, I have come to fulfill your will." [Hebrews 10:7] Hebrews 5:9 By his perfect hearing he forever freed humanity to hear what he had heard. [He now makes it possible for us to hear in such a way that we may participate again in the full release of our original identity; the logos finding voice in the incarnation in us!])
If this was just about me trying to make a name for myself then you can certainly reject my testimony as phony! Yet there is someone else who endorses who I am and I recognize his testimony of me as absolutely true. You cross examined John and he too gave testimony of the truth of who I am. I do not draw my inspiration from your applause; I'm not here to win a few votes for a noble cause - I am on a rescue mission! John was a man on fire, a bright beaming light and for a brief moment you were jumping with joy in his radiance. My testimony exceeds John's since the work which my Father has ordained me to finish gives ultimate context to my mission. The Father himself who has sent me continues to bear witness to me; yet you are not familiar with his voice and did not discern his prophetic utterance throughout ancient times and therefore you could not recognize his image nor do you realize his appearance at this present time [in the incarnate word]. Your doubting his whom the Father has sent shows that you have not taken his word to its full conclusion. You scrutinize the Scriptures tirelessly, assuming that in them you [1] embrace the life of the ages - yet I am what the Scriptures are all about! ([1]echo, to hold, embrace, resonate) Still you refuse to resort to me as the very source of the life you seek. (I echo the life of the ages within you!) I am not anchoring my belief in people's opinion. But what I observe about you, is that GOD's Love does not resonate within you! (You're so obsessed with the rule book that all you see in it is a god of judgment and wrath and miss out on GOD's Love!) Here I am representing my Father and you have a problem with that; yet someone completely unknown to anyone would come in his own name and you will give him your full support. (How strikingly has this been verified in the history of the Jews? From the time of Jesus Christ to our time, sixty-four false Christ have been reckoned by whom they have been deceived.) How is it possible for you to even venture into the dimensions of faith, if you already have your minds made up to go with popular opinion within your own ranks, while you show no desire to esteem him who proceeds directly from GOD? No, I am not the one to accuse you before the Father - you stand condemned before your trusted friend Moses! Had you discerned my Father's voice in Moses you would have been persuaded about me in his writings. (The significance of the Scriptures is not in themselves but in who they point to! Genesis 3:15, 12:3 "in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed!" Compare John 8:56, 58; Genesis 49:10; also Deuteronomy 18:15. "For he wrote of me" - peri gar emou ekeinos egrapsen. Deuteronomy 18:18 is quoted by Peter in acts 3:22 as a prophecy of Christ and also by Stephen in Acts 7:37. See also John 3:14 about the brazen serpent and John 8:56 about Abraham foreseeing Christ's day. Moses most certainly wrote concerning him.) If you already doubt his words to begin with, my conversation will be irrelevant to you'" (The Mirror)
The LORD willing we shall pick back up at chapter 6 of John. Where John uses the wonders of Jesus' doing to teach on a few finer points as opposed to Matthew in 14:13-21, Mark in 6:30-44 and Luke in 9:10-17, these we will look at from the Mirror.
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