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In a day and age where knowledge is plentiful—even overwhelming—the existence and prevalence of ignorance is amazing. Why does ignorance prevail in the midst of a rising tide of knowledge? For a myriad of reasons.
Some ignorance is born out of laziness. We can be too lazy to verify whether or not something is true. Or too lazy to think deeply about something. How many times have you heard people repeat an opinion as factual, as if it’s beyond question? Have you done this yourself?
Bias and prejudice contribute to a developed ignorance. An ignorance numb to the truth. This could range from racism to politics to religion, even in the sciences which is self-contradictory in itself. A developed ignorance is born out of self-interest and resistance to the truth.
One of the ignorant things I’ve heard people say about Jesus is—He never claimed to be God. This is untrue. He did. This is a major reason He was condemned to die by the Jewish leaders. The primary focus of John’s gospel is to declare the divine nature of Jesus as the Son of God. In the following verses, Jesus gives five truthful testimonies to verify who He is.
Scripture
“If I testify on my own behalf, what I say isn’t true. Someone else testifies on my behalf, and I know that what he says about me is true. You sent people to John ⌊the Baptizer⌋, and he testified to the truth. [vss 31-33]
But I have something that testifies more favorably on my behalf than John’s testimony. The tasks that the Father gave me to carry out, these tasks which I perform, testify on my behalf. They prove that the Father has sent me. The Father who sent me testifies on my behalf. You have never heard his voice, and you have never seen his form. So you don’t have the Father’s message within you, because you don’t believe in the person he has sent.
You study the Scriptures in detail because you think you have the source of eternal life in them. These Scriptures testify on my behalf. Yet, you don’t want to come to me to get ⌊eternal⌋ life. [vss 36-40]
“Don’t think that I will accuse you in the presence of the Father. Moses, the one you trust, is already accusing you. If you really believed Moses, you would believe me. Moses wrote about me. If you don’t believe what Moses wrote, how will you ever believe what I say?” [vss 45-47]
(John 5:31-47 GW) [full text]
Key phrase—
You study the Scriptures…These Scriptures testify on my behalf
Digging Deeper...
Review the Scriptures above as you answer the following questions
What does Jesus say about testifying on His own behalf?
Who does Jesus say gave a true testimony about who He is?
What else and who else testifies on behalf of Jesus?
What are the last two sources of testimony of Jesus and why should the Jews know this?
Reflection...
The five testimonies Jesus gives are an indictment against the Jewish leaders. They understood John the Baptizer’s testimony. This was made clear earlier in John’s gospel. Though the Jews knew John was a prophet sent from God, their leaders rejected what John said.
They rejected John’s testimony for the same reason they didn’t accept the Father’s testimony of Jesus and the signs and miracles Jesus did. Why? Because it wasn’t what they wanted to hear or believe. Their minds and hearts were numb to the truth of the Scriptures because they clung to their own interpretations of the Scriptures.
This is the real issue—in spite of all their religious fervor, their hearts were hardened towards God. This is the problem for many people regardless of their religion or rejection of religion. When our mind is set on what we want to believe, it makes it hard to hear or accept the truth.
In reading through all the gospels, especially John’s, it may puzzle you how resistant the Jewish leaders were to Jesus, His teaching, and how His authority was confirmed by the signs and miracles. And yet, it’s the same for all of us. It’s a matter of control. Our natural default is to want to be in control—to determine our own destiny—to be our own god.
Taking it to heart...
Read through the Scripture text again as you consider and answer these questions
Why do you think the Jewish leaders either ignored or did not accept John’s testimony?
What does Jesus point to as the reason why these leaders don’t hear the Father’s voice or accept Jesus as the Messiah?
What does Jesus say they could receive if they would come to Him personally and believe in Jesus?
Do you believe Jesus was sent by God the Father? If not, are you willing to consider this is true?
Personalize it...
Meditate On This— When confronted with the truth, we all have a choice to consider and weigh what we hear or read. If we have a genuine desire to know the truth, we need to be willing to understand it with an open heart and mind—free from bias or self-interest.
Prayer Focus— When you have difficulty accepting what the Bible says, especially when it comes to who Jesus is, be honest about it with God. If you’re willing to approach God with an honest heart, He will help you understand it by His Spirit. Just be open and honest with Him!
©2019—Word-Strong