Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus
In the previous series "The Bible", we considered the origin of the Scripture, where it came from- the great subject of revelation. Now we shall be thinking not of is origin but of its purpose; we will be asking not where it came from, but for what has it been given?
Our text is John 5: 39-40. Jesus, speaking to his Jewish contemporaries, says, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."
From these words of Jesus we learn two profound and complementary truths about Christ and the Bible...
The Scriptures Bear Witness to Christ
Jesus Himself says very plainly, "It is they that bear witness to me" (v. 39). The major function of the Scripture is to bear witness to Christ.
Now the context in which this text is embedded is concerned with testimony to Christ. What testimony can validate the claims of Jesus of Nazareth? He Himself tells us. To begin with, He does not rely on His own testimony to Himself, as is clear from verse 31: "If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true." Jesus is not suggesting that He is telling lies about Himself. Indeed he later rebuts a criticism of the Pharisees by insisting that His testimony to Himself is true (John 8:14). His point here is that self testimony is inadequate; there would be something suspicious about it is the only testimony he had came from him alone. no, "there is another who bears witness to me," He says (v. 32).
So the testimony He relies upon is not his own testimony. Nor is it human testimony, even the testimony of that outstanding witness John the Baptist. "You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony which i receive is from man" (v. 33-34). So then, says Jesus, it isn't from me and it isn't from human beings. of course, John was "a burning and shining lamp" (v.35), and people had been willing "to rejoice for a while in His light." But the testimony that Jesus claimed was greater. It was greater than His own testimony to Himself, and greater than th testimony of any human being, even of John. It was the testimony of His Father. "The Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me" (v. 37). Moreover, the Father's testimony to the Son took two forms. First, it was given through the mighty works, the miracles, which the Father enabled Him to do (v. 36). But secondly, and more directly still, it was given through the Scriptures, which are the Father's testimony to the Son. Verses 36-39 makes this plain:
The testimony which i have is greater than that of john; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to 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 Him 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 to me.
It was the consistent teaching of Jesus that old Testament Scripture was God's Word bearing witness to him. He said, for example, "Abraham rejoiced... to see my day" (John 8:56). Or in John 5:46 he says, "Moses... wrote of me." Again, 'the scriptures... bear witness to me" (v. 39). At the beginning of His ministry, when He went to worship in the synagogue at Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 61 about the Messiah's mission and message of liberation, and He added: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). In other words, "If you want to know whom the prophet was writing about, he was writing about me." Jesus continued to say this kind of thing throughout His ministry. Even after the resurrection He has not changed His mind, for "he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). thus from beginning to the end of his ministry, Jesus declared that the whole prophetic testimony of the Old Testament, in all its rich diversity, converged upon him: "The Scriptures... bear witness to me."
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, we now understood that the Old Testament speaks about Jesus and his ministry from many years. In the next session, we will try and understand more about Jesus and what the Bible says about him.
May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways.
Your Brother in Christ
Jobin
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