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by Sandy Shaw
In John Chapter 5 and at verse 39 we have an astonishing statement from Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You search the Scriptures, but you have missed the secret, because you have missed what they are all about. They testify about Me. They point to Me.
These are massive points Jesus is speaking here.
In verses 37,38, Jesus is teaching that it is the providential Father – Almighty God – Who is behind me.
These men looked but they have missed, and were missing, what they were looking for.
It is possible to read the Bible and miss Jesus Christ. The Jews did that. They were not looking for such a Person. The Old Testament is about Jesus, and Jesus Christ underlines that here in these sentences.
Search – seek – read – dig deep – until you find and discover Jesus Christ.
Jesus is saying, you have from God the Father the evidence and testimony of John the Baptist, and the miracles, and your own Scriptures, but you will not come to me that you might have life.
I don’t receive honour from men, but the testimony of John honours Me, and My Father honours Me when I work miracles, and the Scriptures respect and honour and praise Me.
Verse 42. I know you, and I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.
Now, Jesus said that to people who ‘went to church’ and ‘read their Bible’ and said prayers. Why is it that so few accept God’s truth? It is not an intellectual problem. It is a problem of the will. You are not willing to believe. You are willing NOT to believe. They were stubbornly determined that they would NOT believe and obey.
That is the situation Jesus is facing here. This is a prophetic passage.
There was nothing wrong with their heads. The trouble was in their hearts.
They did not want to know. They did not want to believe in Jesus. They did not want to move with God and flow with God.
What a warning this is to us. We must never be like them, with too little will power and too much won’t power! We meet a lot of people like this today.
They won’t do this. They won’t do that. And, they will not allow Jesus Christ near their pet precious treasured sins, and they won’t come to Jesus Christ for life.
In verse 43, Jesus says a very sad thing. I am come from the heavenly Father and you will not receive me, but you’ll run to anyone else. We are told that over a period of 50 years the Jews accepted some 65 false Messiahs!
But, of course, it is similar today. People will go anywhere to anyone rather than come to Jesus Christ. We need to hear clearly what Jesus is saying in these verses.
We know when a person does not love God, and when he or she is not interested in Jesus.
Verse 44. You are more concerned about your reputation with men and your social reputation. You are more concerned about what men think of you than what God thinks of you. You want to be praised and honoured by each other rather than have the honour and blessing of God upon you.
Verse 45. Do not think I am going to accuse you. No. Moses will accuse you. They read Moses’ writings but would not believe what Moses said.
It is like when you hear someone say, O, I believe in God. O, I believe in Jesus. But I don’t believe everything the Bible says. I don’t believe everything in the Bible! What a contradiction!
What I can accept I will accept, and what I cannot accept I will not accept! God gives no-one that choice or option.
Verse 46. Moses wrote about Me, and the reference is to Deuteronomy Chapter 18 and verse 15. “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”
Listen to Him and pay attention. If you listen to Him you will live. If you do not listen to Him you will die.
All this arose out of a merciful loving compassionate Christ healing a man who had been paralysed for 38 years!
That is why, in these days, we have to be very careful as to what we mean when we say we have FAITH. FAITH can be a vague philosophical word.
Many people say, “O I have got faith.” I am sure these Jews would have said openly – “O we have faith in God.” Faith means and involves obedience. We have to be able to say not only, ‘I have got faith’, but also, ‘I am obedient to Jesus and His Word.’
Who is on trial now? Have you noticed the change? Those who misjudge Jesus will one day by judged by Him! It is not just what we think of Jesus. It is what Jesus thinks of us.
Verse 41 - “This is what I know of you.” These men were not willing to bow to Jesus and His Word, and that is why many people are lost.
If you have been reading these studies I plead with you not to miss what they are really all about. They are about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who came to save us from our sins.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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