Read 1 Peter 3:13-17; John 5:31-47, Explaining Hope (3)

Today’s passage from John shows Jesus explaining hope by the answer from Scripture.  He is the central figure in our hope, of course.  So what He does with the Jews is to use those Scriptures to demonstrate the validity of His claims.  This is a method that is useful with those who will read the Bible and have some inclination to trust the Bible as true.  Jesus makes five arguments, calling on five witnesses.

·        Witness #1, 5:31-35: John the Baptist.  John was a prophet (preacher) who was respected by all the people.  Even the religious leaders could not speak against John.  And John’s sole purpose was to prepared the way for Christ.  He was meant to be a witness that Jesus was the Christ and he was a trusted voice for the people.

·        Witness #2, 5:36: His miracles.  Again, Jesus’ miracles were intended to be a testimony to His being the Christ.  When Jesus performed miracles, unlike some who claim miraculous powers today, His miracles were verifiable.  He was very public and performed these signs in the presence of His enemies as well as friends.  People who didn’t believe in Him were often the subjects of His miracles.  The Apostle John chose miracles to tell about that were pictures of the gospel, encouragements to believe in Christ (John 20:35). 

·        Witness #3, 5:37-38: His Father in heaven.  On three occasions God the Father spoke from heaven in support of His Son (Matt. 3:17, Jesus’ baptism; Mt. 17:5: in the presence of three disciples at the transfiguration; Jn. 12:28, before a crowd at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry).  Jesus specifically said on the third occasion that hearing God’s voice from heaven was for their sake (Jn. 12:30).  This is a testimony to the character and ministry of Jesus as the Messiah.

·        Witness #4, 5:39: Scripture (the Old Testament).  Jesus said the OT spoke about Him.  In other words He was the fulfillment of prophecies made by the prophets.  These are a powerful testimony as to the truth of Jesus’ claims.  When you read the Gospel of Matthew you see repeatedly this thought, that such and such an event occurred in order to fulfill the word of God in the OT (e.g. 1:22f; 2:5f,13-15ff,23).

·        Witness #5, 5:45-47: Moses (an important figure for the Jews).  Finally Jesus pointed to a specific prophets, Moses.  Moses is a significant figure, certainly for the Jews, but for anyone who is interested in what the Bible says.  He is the human author of the first five books, the Pentateuch.  He was the giver of the Law.  He give Israel great pictures of the Messiah in Gen. 3:15 (that He would be of the seed of a woman), Exodus 12 (that He would be the Passover Lamb, the unblemished Lamb of God) and Deut. 18:15 (that He would be the greatest of the prophets).

This approach to giving a reason for our hope has great value because it encourages those who are searching to go to the Bible.  We should be ready to help an unsaved person to open a Bible and read it in search of the Savior, our Hope.  We have seen this to be quite effective and encourage you to use it.