If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.

But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

The Jews took pride in their following of Moses, but Jesus points out that Moses wrote about Him and they even reject the testimony of Moses, their leader. Hoskyns points out, “The law of Moses is not a religion of salvation, it is the categorical imperative of God by which men are accused and exposed as sinners.” Morris goes on to say, “Had they really paid heed to Moses they would have been convicted of their sin, and eager to recognize the Saviour.” (p. 334)

What about us? We still have all of these witnesses; do we continue to reject them? How often have we read our Bibles or heard a teaching or a sermon and not accepted it as the word of God for us? How often have we “enlightened ones” acted just like the Jews? What are you going to do about it?

“Your accuser is” = present tense. Moses is standing as an accuser against them even at that moment. They had rejected the testimony of Moses for the Messiah and they therefore stood accused by him.

“you” is emphatic as was “I” in the preceding verse.

Jesus said that the Jews were desiring honor for themselves (#Jo 12:43, Mt 6:1) and that anyone who put their own honor above that of God could not possibly believe on the true Messiah. Morris says that, “The issue is the glory of self or the glory of God. It is an issue which divides men still.” (p.334)

Joh 12:43  for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

Mt 6:1  “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

McGarvey provides some further insight into the motives of the Jews: “Expecting one who would bring great honor to themselves by his triumphs over his foes, and seeing nothing of this kind to be expected from Jesus, they could not believe him to be the Messiah.” (TFG 208)

These Jews were proud of their intellect and their knowledge of the scriptures. They thought they had all the answers, but it was their own pride in their knowledge which precluded any acceptance of what God did apart from what they expected.

The trained mind outs the upright soul,
As Jesus said the trained mind might,
Being wiser than the sons of light,
But trained men’s minds are spread so thin
They let all sorts of darkness in;
Whatever light man finds they doubt it,
They love not light, but talk about it.

John Masefield, The Everlasting Mercy, 1936 edn., p.47

“I” is emphatic, distinguishing Jesus from all others.

“you do not accept me” = Robertson, among others, calls John “the Gospel of the Rejection” (RWP) #John 1:11; 3:11,32; 12:37

Joh 1:11  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Joh 3:11  I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.

Joh 3:32  He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no-one accepts his testimony.

Joh 12:37  Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

“you will accept him” = Jesus is saying that they will not receive the true Christ who comes in the name of the Father, but they will receive (and already have) those who falsely claim to be the Christ. McGarvey states that, “According to Schudt, as quoted by Bengel, there have been 64 antichrists who have misled the Jews. Among them Bar Cocheba (c. AD 132) led 24,000 to ruin, including Akiba, the President of the Sanhedrin. False christs come in their own name—for their own honor—and make no war on bosom sins, but upon earthly enemies; but Jesus came not to manifest himself, but his Father.” (TFG 208)

Jesus knows them as He knows all men.

Joh 2:24  But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.

“the love of God” = can either denote love from God or love for God. Here it is undoubtedly love for God; these men had no real love for the Father and Jesus knew it. It is interesting that this phrase can mean either of the two things since both are connected. God loves us and His love for us is not based on any merit on our part. We see the extent of His love for us in the cross. But God’s love is also creative in the fact that it illicits a response of love within us. When we experience God’s love for us, we in turn love Him back. 

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 

Westcott states it another way: “God is at once the Author and the Object of this love.” (qt’d in Morris p.332)

Sadly, the Jews thought they did love God. They knew the commandments and were strict adherents to them. They were fully aware of the command in

Deut 6:5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

and professed to keep it, but in fact there was no real love for God in their hearts. If there had been, they would have loved and followed the Son. The Jews had not started with the love for God and then sought Him to determine what He desired of them; they had worked out their own religion based on God’s commands and then tried to fit God into it. Barclay says, “They did not really love God; they loved their own ideas about God.” And Milligan and Moulton state that, “They valued themselves on what they presented to Him, and yet they presented not that which most of all he sought, – the love in which self is lost.” (both qt’d in Morris p.332)

The motive of Jesus is never to please men, but to please the Father. He has no desire to receive any praise or esteem from them.

What about you? Do you let thoughts of how others might view you or your actions to determine how you do act? (Prov 29:25) Our motivation for our actions and words should always be to please God and not man.

Pr 29:25  Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,

yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

If the Jews had rightly read the scriptures, they would have come to recognize who He was and the truthfulness of what He was saying, but they were more interested in the letter of the scriptures than in their message. By an effort of their will they rejected Jesus and the eternal life He held out to them (“you refuse to come to me”).

Barrett notes that, “The function of the OT is precisely the opposite of that which the Jews ascribe to it.  So far from being complete and life-giving in itself, it points away from itself to Jesus exactly as John the Baptist did.  ‘The world’s resistance to God is based on its imagined security, which reaches its highest and most subversive form in religion, and thus, for the Jews in their pattern of life based on Scriptures.  Their “searching” in the Scriptures makes them deaf to Jesus’ word.”

Some examples: 

Ge 3:15  And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Ge 12:3  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Ge 17:19  Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

Ge 49:10  The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.

2 Sa 7:11  and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you:

De 18:15  The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.

De 18:18-19  I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.

Mic 5:2  “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Da 9:22-27  He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:  “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.  “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens’, and sixty-two ‘sevens’. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.  After the sixty-two ‘sevens’, the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.  He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’. In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

Ho 11:1  “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Isa 40:3-8 A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”  A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for ever.”

Jer 31:15  This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.”

Isa 11:1-9  A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD—and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.  Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash round his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.  The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Isa 61:1-3  The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,  to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,  and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour

Isa 9:1-2 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

Isa 52:13-53:12 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness— so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.  He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.  After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors

Isa 29:18-19  In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.  Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Ps 49:4  I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle:

Isa 42:2  He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.

Isa 9:6  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Ps 69:9  for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Isa 26:19  But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.

Zec 13:7  “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the LORD Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Isa 50:5-6  The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

Ps 41:9  Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

Zec 11:12-13  I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.

Ps 69:21  They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

Ps 22:1-18 For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning”. A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
  O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
  In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.  They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.  But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.  All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:  “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.  From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.  Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no-one to help.  Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.  Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.  My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.  Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.  They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

Ps 34:20  he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.

Ps 16:8-11  I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,  because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Ps 118:22  The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;

Ps 2:7  I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.

Ps 8:4-6  what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour.  You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

Witness #5 – Moses (v. 46-47)

And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,

nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

How has the Father borne witness to Jesus? The entire revelation of God from the beginning of time has been a witness to the Son. The Jews, however, have been unable to understand this witness, even though it was threefold:

1. They never heard His voice.
   Moses did: 
   Exodus 33:11  The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
   And they could have if they had only listened:
   John 3:34  For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
2. They never saw God.
   Israel did: 
   Genesis 32:30-31 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
   But they were not true Israelites or they, too, could have seen the form of God: 
   John 14:9  Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
3. They did not have God’s word abiding in them.
   The Psalmist did: 
   Psalms 119:11. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
   If they had, they would have received the words of Jesus:
   John 17:14  I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

There are a couple of other ways in which the Father bore witness to His Son according to Matt 3:17 and 1John 5:9-10:

He spoke from heaven

Mt 3:17  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

He puts that testimony in our hearts

1 Jo 5:10  We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.

“But I” sets Jesus off from all of mankind. He is supremely different. As great as John was, his witness was still human and could not establish the position of One Who was divine.

What is different about the works of Jesus?

1. They come from God.
   John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
2. They were unique.
   John 15:24  If I had not done among them what no-one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.

Remember the context of this discourse. Before the eyes of these Jewish accusers Jesus has miraculously healed a lame man. These men have seen the power of God exercised through the hands of Jesus and they still refuse to believe Him!

“You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth.

Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved.

John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.”

“has testified” is in the continuous tense. Weymouth expounds that “he both was and still is a witness to the truth.” (qt’d in Morris 326) Even though the Jews were excited by John and his words, they never took them to heart. If they had, they would have been started on the path to salvation much as the 2 disciples in the following verses.

John 1:35-37  The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

On a side note, Jesus said that he does not accept human testimony, but He mentions that of John so that men will be saved. A witness can only testify about what he knows and man has not been to heaven and returned, so he cannot truly testify that Jesus is God. Man can only testify that he believes that Jesus is God because these other witnesses have testified to him of that fact, and this is “hear-say” testimony, which is not admissible in court. Our testimony to others about Jesus has value only in that it can get them saved. They need to hear for themselves that Jesus is Who He claims to be and that must be from the works of Jesus, the scriptures, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, or from Jesus Himself. Our job as witnesses is to just point people to the Savior and let Him do the saving.