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Sermon

The Greatest Testimony of Jesus’ Divine Sonship

Speaker
David Capoccia
Scripture
John 5:30-40

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In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines Jesus’ words in John 5:30-40 regarding the ultimate testimony validating Jesus’ declaration of divine sonship: the testimony of God the Father. John the apostle presents the Father’s testimony of Jesus’ divine sonship so that you will not trust vainly in mere religion but believe in Jesus and be saved.

1. The Divine Son Must Have Appropriate Testimony (vv. 30-35)
2. The Father Testifies to Jesus’ Divine Sonship (vv. 36-40)
2a. Through the Son’s Works (v. 36)
2b. Through the Son’s Words (v. 37-38)
2c. Through the OT Scriptures (vv. 39-40)

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

John 5:30-40 reveals the greatest testimony of Jesus’ divine sonship—the testimony of God the Father himself. Jesus explains that while human witnesses like John the Baptist are helpful, they are insufficient to establish his claim of intimate unity with the Father. The Father testifies to Jesus’ divine sonship in three ways: through the Son’s works, through the Son’s words, and through the Old Testament scriptures. All three avenues demonstrate that the Father and Son work and speak in perfect unity.

Key Lessons:

  1. God’s testimony about Jesus is self-authenticating—the Bible is not merely human testimony about God but God’s own voice speaking through human authors, and those whom God has called cannot help but recognize its truth.
  2. The Father testifies to Jesus’ divine sonship through the Son’s works, the Son’s words, and the Old Testament scriptures, making the evidence abundantly clear for anyone willing to receive it.
  3. The reason people reject the gospel is not lack of information or evidence but unwillingness rooted in proud, self-righteous hearts that insist on finding life apart from Jesus.
  4. Studying Scripture is only profitable when we recognize that all of it testifies about Jesus—he is the end, goal, and main subject of the entire Bible.

Application: We are called to give thanks for the amazing grace that opened our eyes to believe God’s testimony about Jesus, and to boldly use God’s Word as the primary tool in evangelism, trusting that it is God’s own voice speaking to people.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How does understanding that the Bible is God’s own testimony (not merely human testimony about God) change the way you approach reading Scripture and sharing it with others?
  2. Jesus said the Jews were unwilling to come to him—what excuses do people today use to avoid believing, and how does Jesus’ diagnosis of the real problem (unwillingness, not ignorance) challenge those excuses?
  3. In what ways might we fall into the same trap as the religious Jews, studying the Bible for doctrine or moral rules while missing the fact that it all testifies about Jesus?

Scripture Focus: John 5:30-40 teaches that the Father provides testimony of Jesus’ divine sonship through the Son’s works, words, and the Old Testament scriptures. Supporting passages include Deuteronomy 19:15, John 3:33-34, John 12:49, and Luke 24.

Outline

Introduction

God in heaven, we come this morning not to hear from man, not to hear from Pastor Dave, but from you. You have told us, and we have experienced again and again, that this thing called preaching, the preaching of your word, is how you speak to us. A properly preached sermon is actually God talking to his people through his word explained and applied.

God, we ask that you would do as you say you would. That you would enable me to fulfill my part in this, and that you would enable us as an assembly here today to do our part, and that is to receive the word of God. I pray, Lord, that we would receive it. I pray that we’d be changed by it.

I pray, Lord, that it would move us to thanksgiving, as is particularly appropriate this week, and it would also move us to renewed boldness in declaring your testimony to the world. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The Evangelism Connection

So, kind of interesting: it turns out that this weekend is very much an evangelism theme at Calvary. We had an evangelistic outreach this past Friday and Saturday at the Bridgewater Commons mall, and then our brother Mark led us in an evangelism Sunday school using our FOF curriculum this morning. And by God’s providence, the message we’re going to look at in our next passage of the Gospel of John also has an intensely relevant application for evangelism.

In fact, I almost would ask that if you didn’t listen to the Sunday school this morning, that you’d go back and listen to it via the recording, because it just fits so well with what we’re going to hear in our sermon passage.

You all know that, and Mark reminded us again from the scriptures this morning, that if you’re a Christian, you have been commissioned by your Lord Jesus Christ to be an evangelist. Because you have been commanded—invited and commanded—as part of a wider commission of making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them everything that Jesus commanded. That beginning part of that commission, that making disciples part, we often call evangelism. We’ve all been commanded to do that. We all must do that. We must tell others the good news about Jesus and call them to repentance and belief.

“If you’re a Christian, you have been commissioned by your Lord Jesus Christ to be an evangelist.”

One question, though, you might encounter when evangelizing is the following: How do you know what you believe is true? After all, there are a lot of religions out there with very serious and committed people in them. They believe that what they hold to is true. They believe just as strongly in their religion or irreligion as you do, Christian. So how do you have the correct answer? And how do you know that you’re not deluded like the others? Or at least, how do you know what you say is true about the others? How would you answer that question?

I remember how one of my seminary professors answered the question. He was in my theology 3 class. We were studying soteriology, the theology or the doctrine of salvation. And he said, “If anyone ever asks you, ‘How do you know what you believe is true?’ you should look that person square in the eye and say to them, slowly and in a deep voice, ‘God told me. How do you know what you believe is true? God told me.’”

God’s Self-Authenticating Testimony

Now, he was being a little tongue-in-cheek when he said that, but he was actually making an important point. Brethren, God uses different witnesses as part of bringing us to believe in Jesus and be saved. You can think back to your own salvation story.

There are the personal testimonies of others, the lives that they live. There are certain circumstances and experiences that you have in your life. And there’s even the apologetic efforts of different Christian teachers.

These sources of witness, these sources of testimony, they are all good. Praise the Lord for how he does use them. But none of these will ultimately prove effective if there is not a greater testimony that goes along with them.

What is that greater testimony? It is the testimony of God himself—even the Father, along with the Son and the Holy Spirit—testifying to us about who God is, who specifically Jesus is, how a person must respond to God and Jesus to be saved. I should say, who we are and how we must respond to God and Jesus to be saved.

Does God really present us with such a testimony? He does. How? By his Spirit, through the word, the Bible. You see, Brethren, the Bible is not merely the testimony of certain ancient men about God and about Jesus. No, the Bible is the testimony of God himself, speaking through ancient men. It is God’s own voice, God’s own breath, speaking.

“The Bible is not merely the testimony of certain ancient men about God. It is the testimony of God himself.”

And if God has given us new ears to hear, how do we respond when we hear the voice of God? Well, we listen. We repent of sin, and we believe in Jesus as Christ and as the Son of God.

To say this another way: God’s word has a self-authenticating quality to it. It confirms itself. It confirms its own truthfulness for those who are called, for those who are mercifully chosen of God. They recognize this.

No other witnesses are ultimately needed for them to believe, because they hear God’s voice in the testimony that God has given.

“God’s word has a self-authenticating quality to it. It confirms its own truthfulness for those who are called.”

And I don’t just mean somewhere in there is God’s voice. No, they recognize that these words—all these words, these exact words—are the voice of God, and they believe it. The truth to them is self-evident.

The hearer cannot help but recognize that what the Bible says is right. And not in a way that bypasses the mind, as if he’s like, “I don’t know, this seems like stupidity to me, but I have to believe it.” It’s not that at all.

Rather, this happens in a way that illuminates the mind to finally see reality clearly. He said, “Why didn’t I see this before? It was so obvious. Why wouldn’t I recognize it? But now I do.”

The Response to God’s Testimony

Logically, there can be no greater testimony than the testimony of God himself, he who is truth by nature. For those who are called, for those who are chosen, they can’t help but admit that and believe in Jesus. But that doesn’t mean that for those who are not called, that they don’t also recognize, in some fashion, the testimony of God.

If a person hears the testimony of God, the truth of his word, and ultimately rejects it and refuses to believe in Jesus, that person shows something about himself. What does he show? That he loves himself and not God, and that no testimony will ever be enough to bring him to faith.

“He loves himself and not God, and no testimony will ever be enough to bring him to faith.”

Scripture Reading: John 5:30-47

These are the same truths that Jesus is going to tell us about in our next passage in the Gospel of John. Please turn your Bibles to John 5:30-40.

The title of the message today is “The Greatest Testimony of Jesus’ Divine Sonship.” We’re focusing on John 5:30-40, which is on page 1064.

We read the preceding context earlier in the service, verses 1-29. To give you a little more of the preceding context and what comes afterwards, we’re going to read down to verse 47. But we’re focusing on verses 30-40 today.

Let us hear the testimony of God in these verses. John 5:30-47:

“I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me. If I alone testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of me, and I know that the testimony which he gives about me is true. You sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man. But I say these things so that you may be saved.

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“He was the lamp that was burning and was shining, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John. For the works which the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me, he has testified of me.

>

“You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he sent. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about me, and you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life.

>

“I do not receive glory from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the One and Only God?

>

“Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Context: Jesus’ Declaration of Divine Sonship

As I’ve said to you before, John 5:1-47 is one united section of narrative and teaching, as part of our gospel writer’s purpose. John the Apostle, as part of his purpose of persuading us to believe via the works and words of Jesus, that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, so we might have eternal life in his name.

Our author tells us about a notable miracle that Jesus did at one religious feast in Jerusalem. This is at the beginning of the chapter. Jesus healed a sick man by the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, verses 1 to 16.

Now, more important than the fact that Jesus healed this man was the fact that he healed him on the Sabbath. Because in so doing, Jesus broke the Jewish rabbis’ man-made law, man-made rule, about what was and what was not permitted on the Sabbath. You couldn’t heal. You couldn’t carry a pallet, carry anything, really.

The Jews were thus faced with a dilemma about how to interpret this Sabbath healing from Jesus. Either Jesus was wrong to heal on the Sabbath, and he should be condemned—or the Jewish tradition is wrong, and Jesus is obviously someone extraordinary.

Well, the proud, self-righteous religious leaders decided that Jesus was wrong and he should be executed. But rather than backing off, Jesus uses the occasion, the controversy, to declare an amazing heavenly reality, a mystery, that is the true explanation for why Jesus can heal on the Sabbath and even do real work on the Sabbath.

What is the explanation? That Jesus is the Son of God. He’s equal to the Father and is always working with the Father.

“Jesus is the Son of God. He’s equal to the Father and is always working with the Father.”

In our last two times together, looking at this chapter, we looked at Jesus’ declaration of divine sonship in verses 17 to 29. If you remember, after an introductory assertion in verses 17 to 18, in which Jesus shows that his divine sonship justifies his Sabbath work, Jesus then explains in verses 19 to 24 that God the Father and God the Son are intimately united because of their great love for one another.

The Father and Son never do anything independently from one another, but they participate together in every divine work. Moreover, because the Father is determined to see everyone honor the Son with the same honor that is deserved by the Father, the Father has specifically given the role of lifegiver and judge to the Son, to Jesus.

And in verses 25 to 29, Jesus further explains how he fulfills this twin role—lifegiver and judge. Jesus does this now, in the time in which he was on the earth, and even today, through the saving gospel message, which, as Mark mentioned, is a miracle of spiritual resurrection that God is constantly doing.

But Jesus also exercises these, or he fulfills this twin role, in the future, soon, through the coming physical resurrection: some to eternal life, and others to eternal destruction and judgment.

Altogether, verses 17 to 29 represents an incredible revelation of the glory of Christ. Jesus is no ordinary man. He is the Son of God. He is the lifegiver and judge. This revelation is an implicit appeal to believe in Jesus and be saved, saved from judgment.

Yet Jesus’ amazing declaration of divine sonship could provoke a certain question: How do we know that what Jesus is saying is true? That Jesus is from God and has done a miracle on the Sabbath by God’s power is undeniable. But to claim equality and oneness with God, as well as the role of the universe’s lifegiver and judge? Those are momentous assertions. They could use some supporting testimony, couldn’t they?

Interestingly, Jesus himself recognizes this. And in verses 30 to 40, he presents the necessary testimony of his divine sonship. We can describe the main idea of the author in these verses, these reported words from Jesus, in this way: In John 5:30-40, John our author presents the Father’s testimony of Jesus’ divine sonship, why? So that you will not trust vainly in mere religion, but believe in Jesus and be saved.

Now, the testimony proper appears in verses 36 to 40. But before getting there, Jesus takes time in verses 30-35 to recognize his need for testimony, and not just any testimony, but testimony that is appropriate for the truly divine son.

That’s our sermon outline: two main points, transition point, and then the presentation of testimony. Let’s take a closer look at each of these, starting with the transition point in verses 30 to 35.

The Divine Son Must Have Appropriate Testimony

Number one: The divine son must have appropriate testimony. Let’s reread verse 30. Jesus says, “I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”

Verse 30: Summary of the Son’s Unity with the Father

In the context, you may have noted that verse 30 functions like a summary of what Jesus has said thus far in his declaration of divine sonship. Back in verse 19, Jesus said, “The son cannot do anything of himself, but only whatever he sees the Father doing.” Well, now in verse 30, Jesus repeats the same idea, but uses the metaphor of hearing instead of sight.

But notice here specifically what the son hears from the Father and then carries out: it’s judgment. He says, “As I hear, I judge.” Why is Jesus talking about judgment? Because he’s just been talking about judgment in verses 25 to 29, and the two roles, the two special works, that the Father has given him to do: lifegiver and judge.

See, in verse 30, Jesus is clarifying that even in the profound and fearful work of eternal judgment, the son does not carry out this work arbitrarily, selfishly, or even independently. No, the faithful son practices in his judgment exactly what the son practices in every work: complete unity with and dependence on the Father.

“Even in the profound work of eternal judgment, the Son does not carry out this work independently.”

Thus, everyone can know with certainty that Jesus the son’s judgment is and will be just, because Jesus does not seek his own will, but the will of him who sent him—that is, the will of his Father.

But notice something interesting about verse 30. From verses 19 to 29, Jesus has mostly been referring to himself in the third person, calling himself “the son,” “the son of man,” “the Son of God,” “he,” “him,” “his.” But there’s a shift in verse 30. Do you see it? Jesus now speaks about himself using “I,” “my,” “me.”

In fact, Jesus continues to speak of himself this way for the rest of the chapter. Why the shift? Perhaps in verses 19 to 29, Jesus uses the third person to draw attention to certain truths regarding his nature and identity. He wants to use certain titles that will clarify who he really is. Whereas in verses 30 to 47, Jesus wants to contrast himself with his Jewish listeners.

You can’t see it so much in the English translation, but a lot of the pronouns that come for the rest of the passage, they are emphatic in the Greek. So you could translate it as “I myself” or “I, even I,” and “you yourselves,” “you, even you.”

Regardless, if that is really the case—and I think it probably is—the clear pronoun shift in verse 30 indicates that we are transitioning to a new thought. Indeed, the summary of what Jesus has just said, with its renewed emphasis on the intimate unity of Father and Son, it leads Jesus to acknowledge a certain necessity, which he describes in verse 31.

Verse 31: Why the Son Needs a Witness

Look at verse 31: “If I alone testify about myself, my testimony is not true.”

John 5:31: “If I alone testify about myself, my testimony is not true.”

Wait, what? What are you saying, Jesus? Are you saying that if you say anything about yourself by yourself, that you shouldn’t be believed? But I thought you were the light of the world, the Eternal Word made flesh, the Son of God. Aren’t you trustworthy by yourself?

Why do you need outside testimony? What’s going on here?

The Two-Witness Principle from Torah

Some Bible interpreters say that Jesus is bringing up a legal principle from the Torah, that is, the five books of Moses. Namely, that at least two witnesses or testimonies are necessary to establish a fact in court. For example, Deuteronomy 19:15 says, “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed. On the evidence of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be confirmed.”

We hear the same rule in Deuteronomy 17:6 and Numbers 35:30. Thus, some interpreters understand Jesus to mean here in verse 31, “If I alone testify about myself, my testimony is not legally valid. That is, my words, even if true, wouldn’t stand up in court.”

Now, this interpretation is possible, though there’s nothing in the context directly to say that Jesus is in a court situation. So why does he care about this legal rule?

Moreover, the rule from Torah, this two-witness rule, was originally given to establish someone’s guilt, not a person’s truthfulness or innocence. No one could be put to death on the basis of just one witness. Or nobody can be convicted of a crime based on just one witness. There must be at least two. And this is why we see the principle used even in church discipline in the New Testament.

Deuteronomy 19:15: “On the evidence of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be confirmed.”

But Jesus is not establishing his own guilt. So why would he need a second witness? Perhaps one would say he’s trying to establish the guilt of the unbelieving Jews, and that’s why he needs a second witness. That’s possible.

But I think there’s a more basic reason why Jesus acknowledges the necessity for an additional and a particular witness. And that is based on the type of claim that Jesus has just made.

The Father Must Also Be Testifying

Think about it. Jesus has just asserted that as God’s son, he is intimately united with the Father and does everything with the Father, even judgment. If that’s true, then shouldn’t the Father also be giving testimony to that fact?

After all, if the Father and Son indeed love each other and do everything together, if the Son is testifying about himself—that’s the work that he’s doing—then if the Father does the same work as the Son at the same time, then shouldn’t the Father also be giving testimony?

If not, if Jesus is proven to be testifying alone, then his testimony is obviously not true, because the Father is not doing the same work with him. So unless, because of the particular claim that Jesus makes, unless he has an additional testimony from the Father, he proves his testimony is false.

“If the Father and Son do everything together, then shouldn’t the Father also be giving testimony?”

But does Jesus testify alone? Look at John 5:32. “There is another who testifies of me, and I know that the testimony which he gives about me is true.”

Nothing to worry about, folks. Jesus says he has the testimony that his claim requires. He even assures his listeners that he knows that the one who gives the necessary testimony about him as the divine son is true.

John the Baptist’s Testimony: Helpful but Not Enough

Now, you may notice here that Jesus has not specifically identified this “another” yet. And some of the crowd who haven’t fully caught Jesus’s drift might be thinking, “Oh, he’s saying he needs another witness. Must be talking about John the Baptist. I remember John the Baptist was testifying about Jesus.”

Look at what Jesus says next, in John 5:33-34. “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man. But I say these things so that you may be saved.”

This is intriguing. It’s like Jesus says, “I know what you’re thinking. When I mention someone giving a necessary testimony about me, you think of John the Baptist. Yes, he has given true testimony about me as the Son of God. We’ve even seen this ourselves in John 1 and John 3. You yourselves—the pronoun is emphatic in Greek—have sent and heard John’s testimony.

“But Jesus says the testimony, the necessary testimony for divine sonship, for establishing that claim, that testimony which I myself receive is not from man. No human testimony can fulfill the son’s need for the Father’s testimony.

Does that mean that human testimony is useless? It’s bad? It’s unhelpful? By no means. In fact, Jesus says he brings up the testimony of John the Baptist as a further help and prod to his Jewish listeners. He says, “I say these things to you so that you may be saved. Don’t you Jews remember what John had to say about me? Hasn’t John given you all the more reason to consider the truthfulness of my words and whether the Father backs them up also?

“Listen to John’s testimony so that you will listen to my testimony and to the Father’s testimony ultimately, so that you will let go of your dead religion and believe in me and be saved.”

“Listen to John’s testimony so that you will listen to the Father’s testimony ultimately and be saved.”

Consider that this is a gracious salvation invitation to Jewish opponents who, remember, have already condemned Jesus and want him dead. Jesus says, “I still offer you this appeal, that you might be saved.”

The Lamp That Burned for a While

We had to take note of this invitation for our own souls. But alongside this kind appeal, Jesus does also indicate how far away his listeners currently are from entering the kingdom of God. For look at verse 35: “He, John, was the lamp that was burning and was shining, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his life.”

In this verse, one of the main themes of John’s gospel is brought back to us: the idea of light. You remember from the prologue, with the Eternal Word, Jesus is called the True Light coming into the world, illuminating every man, showing what every man really is. Specifically, there in the prologue, it said this: witness John wasn’t the True Light, but he came to be a witness about the light, the son, Jesus, the Eternal Word. He is the True Light.

Notice that John the Baptist isn’t called the light, but the lamp. That is, a vessel for light, even a vessel that was lit, it burned and shined for a time. John received a great response from the people of Israel, including the Jews that Jesus is speaking to in this instance.

Notice Jesus says, “You were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” To some degree, the Jews, even the ones that Jesus is talking to right now, accepted John. They accepted him as a true prophet. They listened to his message. They got on board with his ministry. Thousands of Jews received John’s baptism of repentance, which indicated that they wanted to make themselves ready for God’s Messiah and they were ready to believe in him. People were excited about John and his ministry. They loved this teacher of God. They rejoiced over what he proclaimed.

“John the Baptist isn’t called the light, but the lamp—a vessel for light that burned and shined for a time.”

But Jesus says you did this for a while. Literally, for an hour. What does that phrase indicate? Well, for one, the phrase probably indicates that John has been imprisoned or killed at this point in Jesus’ ministry. But two, the phrase suggests that rejoicing in John’s ministry light was short-term and superficial.

Lots of Jews signed up for the baptism of repentance. But which of them were really repentant? Truly seeking after God? The Jews will prove their true colors, what’s in their hearts, based on how they respond not just to the lamp, but to the True Light and to the true testimony given about this light by the Father, as we will see.

“The Jews will prove their true colors based on how they respond to the True Light and the Father’s testimony.”

So then, with this transition point, Jesus acknowledges that the divine son must have appropriate testimony. John the Baptist is good. It should be heeded. But Jesus needs a greater testimony, and he says that he has that. He presents that testimony in summary form in verses 36 to 40.

The Father Testifies to Jesus’ Divine Sonship

This is the second point of the sermon. Number two: The Father testifies to Jesus’ divine sonship. It’s the Father himself who testifies to Jesus’ divine sonship. And he does this in three ways. I’ll give each of those to you by way of subpoints for the sermon outline.

Through the Son’s Works

The first way the Father testifies to Jesus’ sonship, we can put this as 2A, is through the son’s works. The Father testifies to Jesus’ divine sonship through the son’s works. Look at verse 36.

“But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John. For the works which the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me that the Father has sent me.”

Notice how Jesus begins verse 36 with an explicit statement of what he had previously implied: that testimony that I myself have is greater than John’s—good, helpful, but not enough. How so? Jesus uses the transition word “for,” or “because.” The works that I do testify about me, even specifically that the Father has sent me.

John 5:36: “The very works that I do testify about me that the Father has sent me.”

Notice how Jesus describes these works. They are first “the works which the Father has given me to accomplish.” And you can hear overtones of what Jesus has already said up to this point: the Father and I are intimately united. I don’t do any works unless the Father shows them to me and gives them to me to do.

He gave me the work of judgment, just as he gave me the work of giving life. Any work that I do, I only do because it is given me by the Father.

So he’s saying the same thing in verse 36. However, lest we think that the Father gave Jesus works to do but Jesus has been loafing around, procrastinating, going rogue, Jesus adds, secondly, “these are the very works that I do.” The Father didn’t just give works for Jesus to accomplish. Jesus is actually accomplishing them.

And Jesus says that these works testify about him. Now, what does Jesus mean by works? Well, certainly this term must refer to Jesus’ miraculous works. Jesus performed miracles. For just as Nicodemus confessed, “Jesus, you could not do these works unless God had sent you.” That’s so obvious. Normally humans can’t do what you do, Jesus. This must be a testimony from God about you being special.

God gave Jesus the miraculous signs to accomplish, including the healing of the sick man on the Sabbath, as a testimony that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God.

That’s one of the things the author John says at the end of his gospel. “These things have been written so that you may believe. I’ve written about these signs, these miraculous works that Jesus did, and the words that he spoke along with them, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing, have life in his name.”

Works Beyond Miracles

That’s certainly true. But the term “works” may not only include miraculous signs. Works is a very general term. Basically, anything that the Father gave the Son to accomplish falls under the category of works.

Did God the Father give Jesus works to do that went beyond miracles? Yes.

Jesus calling his disciples, his first disciples, was a work from the Father. Jesus cleansing the temple in Jerusalem, that first Passover, his public ministry, was a work from the Father. Jesus traveling to and speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well was also a work from the Father.

If you remember, in that instance, Jesus himself had said in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

“Anything that the Father gave the Son to accomplish falls under the category of works.”

What was he talking about? Preaching the gospel to the Samaritans and to the Samaritan woman.

The Father Works in the Son’s Works

Notice then the significance of Jesus’ works. All of them, according to verse 36, Jesus says that all his works come from the Father and they are, according to what he already said in verse 19, done in the exact manner of the Father himself and accomplished alongside the Father’s own work.

We could say that even more concisely in this way: the Father himself is working in the marvelous works of the Son. The Father works in the Son’s works. And what is the result? Just as Jesus says at the end of verse 36, the Father gives testimony that Jesus is his Son and that Jesus’ claims of intimate unity and always working with the Father are true.

“The Father himself is working in the marvelous works of the Son.”

Verse 36 represents another prod to religious persons slow to believe in Jesus. Jesus says, “The Father has given testimony of my divine sonship through the works, through my works, through the Son’s works. You say I need more testimony if I’m going to believe in you? You’ve got it in my works. Therefore, turn from your dead religion and believe in me. Believe in Jesus.”

Through the Son’s Words

But the Father hasn’t only given testimony through the son’s works. How else does the Father testify of Jesus’ divine sonship? What we see in verses 37 to 38 is our second subpoint: through the son’s words. Not just through the son’s works, but through the son’s words.

Look again at verses 37-38. “And the Father who sent me, he has testified of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he sent.”

At first glance, these verses may seem like they’re saying something and nothing at the same time. I’m going to argue that what they actually say is quite profound.

Notice at the beginning of verse 37 that Jesus explicitly states, directly states, that the Father who sent him is the one who has testified about Jesus being the divine son. He’s the witness, the one that Jesus said I know he’s the one that I need, and he is testifying.

But could Jesus still be talking about the testimony that the Father gives through the son’s works? Notice the rest of verse 37 and 38 speak of the Father’s voice and the Father’s word. So Jesus would appear to be shifting the category of testimony. He’s not talking about the work specifically anymore. He’s now talking about words, even the Father’s words.

But then we read the surprising fact that though the Father has testified of Jesus as the divine son, the Jews, Jesus’ listeners, have never heard the Father’s voice, and they do not have his word remaining in them. That is, they have not remembered the Father’s word or taken it to heart.

Is this simply because most of the Jews weren’t there when the Father audibly testified about his son from heaven, like at Jesus’ baptism? You may remember Matthew 3:17. Jesus has just come up out of the water from his baptism. The spirit descends in the form or looks like a dove. And it says, “And behold, a voice out of the heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”

Is this what Jesus is talking about? It says you didn’t hear that. He gave testimony, but sorry, you missed it. I would say not likely, because our author John has not reported that event in this gospel. You would think that if he wanted his listeners to be thinking about that, he would have already told us about it.

Instead, I would argue the key to understanding these verses comes at the end of verse 38, when Jesus says something vital. How does Jesus know that even though the Father has given testimony on behalf of the Son, the Jews as a whole have not heard the Father’s voice and they do not treasure the Father’s word? Jesus says, “For you do not believe him whom he sent.”

You do not believe him whom he sent. And notice that phrasing is key. Not “you do not believe in him,” but “you do not believe him.” That is, you do not believe what he says. You do not believe what I say. Jesus says that’s how I know that the Father’s word you have not heard.

Are you seeing the connection? Are you seeing the kind of testimony from the Father that Jesus is actually talking about here? In the previous category of testimony, Jesus says that the Father provides testimony of Jesus’ divine sonship through the works of Jesus, which are the works of the Father.

The Son’s Words Are the Father’s Words

Now, in this category, the same principle is in operation. The Father provides testimony of Jesus’ divine sonship through the words of Jesus, because they are the words of the Father. God the Father doesn’t have to say a separate word from what the Son says, because the Son’s word is the Father’s word.

“The Father provides testimony through the words of Jesus, because they are the words of the Father.”

And hasn’t John our author already shown us this in this gospel? He presented to us the testimony of John the Baptist in John 3:33-34. To remind you, John 3:33-34, John the Baptist said, “He who has received his—that is, Jesus’s—testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God.”

If you believe Jesus, you are saying that God the Father is true, because Jesus speaks the words of God the Father. And we’re going to see this concept again and again in this gospel. I’ll just give you one to kind of whet your appetite for what we’re going to see later.

Jesus says in John 12:49, explaining to his disciples, “For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father, who himself sent me, has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.”

John 12:49: “The Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.”

Jesus doesn’t do any works unless it’s given him from the Father, and Jesus doesn’t say any words unless it’s given him from the Father. So does the Father testify about the Son? Yes, through the works and through the words. The very works and words that Jesus, the Son, when he gives testimony about himself, therefore, is not alone in that testimony. The Father is also giving testimony in the words and works of the Son.

Thus, Jesus can affirm in these two verses that the Father has given testimony through the words of Jesus, even though the Jews have not listened to that testimony, as is evident in their unbelief.

Actually, if you’re detecting a rebuke from Jesus in these two verses, you are detecting correctly. And this rebuke is only going to build as we get closer to the end of Jesus’s speech, in verse 47.

For even though God the Father, whom the Jews say they love and worship, even though God the Father is testifying to the words of the Son, the Jews do not pay attention. They do not believe God’s testimony. “Oh, I love God. I am so devoted to his word. But when they hear God actually speak to them through his Son, they say, ‘Oh, I don’t want that. I don’t believe that.’ Something is wrong with that.”

The Allusion to Israel at Sinai

Jesus is drawing their attention to that. By the way, one of the ways he does this is with something that may have seemed a little odd to you. Jesus specifically uses this phrase: “You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form,” speaking about God the Father.

They say, “What’s that all about? Heard his voice? Seen his form? Form?” It’s going to seem odd if you don’t realize that this is an allusion to the Old Testament, even to the Torah, which the Jewish religious leaders, the Jews as a whole, would say, “Oh, we know this, and we revere it.”

Many times in the Torah, and whenever I say Torah, just think the Books of Moses, Moses reminds the Israelites of the fact that they, at Mount Sinai, heard the voice of God but did not see his form. For example, Deuteronomy 4:12.

Deuteronomy 4:12: “You heard the sounds of the words, but you saw no form, only a voice.”

This was Israel’s experience in the Torah. Yet Moses also records in the Torah his own experience, which was a little different from Israel’s. During the rebellion of Aaron and Miriam against Moses, in Numbers 12:8, God steps in and says something about Moses that is significant.

Numbers 12:8: “With him, that is Moses, I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord, that is Yahweh. Why then are we not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”

Interestingly, the Torah says both Moses and Israel heard the voice of the Lord, but Moses saw the form of the Lord. You say, “How did Moses see the form of the Lord? I thought God said that nobody can see me and live. Nobody can see my face and live.”

Well, remember Moses’ experience. He didn’t see everything that could be seen about God, but God had granted him a limited vision, which was still absolutely splendid. God granted Moses a vision of God’s visible glory, first in passing by Moses when Moses was in the cleft of the rock, but also every time Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with God. God showed Moses his form, a limited view of his visible glory.

And you remember the effect on Moses? His face is shining. This is not what Israel experienced, but it’s what Moses experienced.

Hearing God’s Voice and Seeing His Glory in the Son

What is the significance then of Jesus bringing back to the attention of his listeners these experiences in the Torah, even telling the Jews, “You’ve neither heard the voice of the Father, nor seen his form”? I would say that Jesus is telling the Jews that they have been given a great opportunity both to hear the voice of the Father and to see his form, that is, his glory, a visible manifestation of his glory.

But amazingly, unlike ancient Israel and unlike Moses, they have refused to take that opportunity. They aren’t like Moses, their hero. They aren’t like ancient Israel, who at least heard God’s voice. How could they do this, being Jews? Because they refused to listen to or believe the Son.

If they would only be willing, if they’d only humble themselves to listen to Jesus, they would hear the voice of the Lord, the voice of the Father. They would see his form. Didn’t the beginning of John tell us that when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, we saw his glory?

The Jews say, “We’ll pass.”

Brethren, let us appreciate the lesson here. Do you want to hear the voice of God? Do you want to see the glory of God? Then you must listen to, you must behold, and you must believe God’s Son, the very one for whom God has provided abundant testimony.

“Do you want to hear the voice of God? Then you must listen to, behold, and believe God’s Son.”

How tragic that so many religious people today search high and low for some encounter with the divine, when it’s been available to them all along in the words and works of Jesus.

Through the Old Testament Scriptures

There’s one final way the Father testifies to Jesus’ divine sonship, which is what we see in verses 39 to 40. The Father also testifies to the divine sonship through the Old Testament scriptures.

Look at how Jesus continues speaking to the Jews in these two verses. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about me, and you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life.”

John 5:39: “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about me.”

Now, you may notice here in this last little section that Jesus does not make any specific reference to the Father’s testimony. So you might ask, “Well, is this no longer the Father’s testimony that Jesus is now talking about? A separate testimony independent from the Father?”

Well, to that I would say no. Since Jesus prefaced this whole presentation of testimony by saying, “There is one testifying concerning me,” there’s only one supreme witness that I need in order to confirm my divine sonship. This one supreme witness testifies in different ways, different avenues. And the scriptures, the Old Testament, is one of them.

After all, do the scriptures not originate with the Father? Is it not his word? Isn’t that why we call it the word of God? You say, “What about the Son and the Spirit?” Well, yes, it’s the Triune word. But in the order of God’s work in an external sense, it’s the Father who originates it, and the Son and Spirit bring it to pass. It is the Father’s word.

So this is still the Father giving testimony about the Son, but this time it’s through the Old Testament scriptures. Now, the reason I specify Old Testament is because at the time that Jesus is speaking, the New Testament hasn’t been written yet. The only scriptures that they would know that he was talking about would be the Old Testament.

Jesus says this is how the Father testifies that Jesus is the divine Son. And notice how provocatively Jesus brings up the Father’s testimony through the scriptures. He says, “You Jews all search the scriptures because you yourselves think in them to have life eternal.”

That might be like, “Wait a second. I thought life eternal is made available through the revelation of scripture.” Well, yes, but not in the way that the Jews of Jesus’ day thought. Not in the way that many religious people still think.

Many see God’s scriptures as giving the rules that you must keep to gain acceptance with God, to inherit eternal life. You might remember that when he was here, our Jews for Jesus Kingdom worker Dan Serid mentioned among the ultra-Orthodox Jews today—I think the name for them is the Haredi—the men study the scripture every day. In fact, that is all they do.

Their wives work and support the home. The men, they just go and study Torah, just the Books of Moses. Why? Because, as Jesus says, they think that in learning and obeying the Torah, or merely learning and obeying the Torah, will give them life.

But how misguided they are. It’s not going to give them life, not without a very important element that they are missing. And by the way, there’s a Christian version of this too. Christians who study the Bible to learn doctrine and to obey the rules, thinking that those things by themselves will lead to eternal life. Many, unfortunately, think that way.

The Scriptures Are All About Jesus

Studying the Bible is a good thing. Don’t get me wrong. We are, as Christians, commanded to be devoted to it. But it only proves profitable for Christians, for us, when we hear the Father’s testimony in the Bible and we recognize what the Bible is really all about.

What is the Bible about? Notice what Jesus says: “It is these that are testifying about me.” Well, what do you mean by that, Jesus? He doesn’t fully explain here, but other New Testament scriptures help explain. Mark even mentioned one at his Sunday school this morning—the end of Luke 24.

See, not only is the Old Testament full of prophetic passages directly foretelling, and then when they are fulfilled in Jesus, proving that Jesus is the Messiah and God’s Son, but the scriptures as a whole point us to Jesus as the end and goal and main subject of everything. We could even justly say that the Bible is all about Jesus and about the salvation that is available in him.

This is no accident, because the Father, as Jesus is telling us here, has chosen to testify concerning his Son in the scriptures, even in the Old Testament. Therefore, if you apply yourself to study the scriptures and find Jesus, then you will have eternal life, because it’s not the scriptures themselves that give life. It is rather the one to whom, about whom, the scriptures testify that gives life: Jesus, the divine son.

“It’s not the scriptures themselves that give life. It is the one about whom the scriptures testify: Jesus.”

But if you study the scriptures with the goal of finding life in some other avenue—”I’m going to get life some other way in studying the scriptures”—well, not only will you ultimately fail to achieve your goal, but you are likely to trap yourself in a fleshly fortress of religious tradition that will make it even harder for you to see and turn to Jesus and be saved.

That’s unfortunately the case of the ultra-Orthodox or those Bible scholars who know so much about the Bible but refuse to heed the testimony in the Bible that Jesus is God’s Son. They have only hardened their hearts further against the gospel. Many experts in the Bible today are actually unbelievers on the way to hell.

Unwillingness: The Real Barrier to Belief

For look at what Jesus says in verse 40. “And you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life.”

Something very sobering about Jesus’ words here. When Jesus talks about the Father’s testimony about the Son in the scriptures, Jesus does not say that the Jews miss out on life because they’re simply ignorant, as if better education or better Bible study techniques would bring the Jews to believe in him. No, lack of information is not the problem.

God’s testimony about the Son is plain enough. What is the problem then? Jesus says it’s unwillingness. People can’t hear the Father’s testimony about Jesus the Son in the scriptures because they don’t want to.

“Lack of information is not the problem. People can’t hear the Father’s testimony because they don’t want to.”

This is why, even though the Jews in Jesus’ day had encountered the Father’s clear testimony outside of the scriptures in the works and words of Jesus, they still amazingly did not believe. They were looking at each of these clear presentations of divine testimony with an extreme bias against Jesus.

From where did this bias come? Well, Jesus is going to tell us more about it next time. But we can say now: it came from a proud, idolatrous, self-righteous heart.

This is the great calamity of the Jews in Jesus’ day. But it’s not just them. That’s exactly the way that we all were before God drew us, before we believed. And if you have not yet believed in Jesus today, it’s still the way that you are.

You may say, “Oh, I don’t have enough information. I need more evidence. I need something else to change in my life before I’ll believe.” Jesus says that’s not true. God’s given you his testimony. It’s clear enough. If you don’t believe it, it’s because you’re unwilling to believe. You are unwilling to come and have life in Jesus, because you insist that you’re going to have life somewhere else.

The Amazing Grace That Opens Eyes

But why was it different for us? We are those who profess to be believers in Jesus, to have come to believe in him. Why did it turn out to be different for us, when for so many, God gives his testimony in his word and they don’t believe?

Why was it different for us? The amazing grace of God. Because God didn’t just present the testimony to us—which is a gracious thing for him to do, because apart from the revelation of God, there’s no way to know God, there’s no way to know how to be made right with him.

Even if creation indicates enough about him for us to be held accountable, without the specific revelation, the special revelation of God’s word, we can’t be saved. Yet our natural response to it, even as Mark was teaching us this morning in Sunday school, is to reject it.

“I don’t want that,” because we can’t see it clearly. Our proud hearts won’t let us. But God says, “Let me break that heart. Let me give you a new heart. Let me open your eyes. Let me unplug your ears. Now look at the testimony.”

And what do we do when God does that? We say, “Of course, of course. Jesus deserves everything. He’s the Son. He’s the way, the truth, and the life. I must go to him. Amen. It’s not just my duty. It’s my delight. I want him. God doesn’t have to drag me kicking and screaming, because he’s opened my eyes. I can’t do anything else but go to him, and I never want to leave.”

“God says, ‘Let me give you a new heart. Let me open your eyes.’ And we say, ‘Of course, Jesus deserves everything.’”

He’s shown me the Sun. He’s shown me the Sun and opened my eyes to actually be able to see it. That’s what God did. If you were in Christ today, that is what God did for you.

And what is that cause for thanksgiving? Is that not cause for great praise and thanks to God?

God spoke to you. God told you the truth in such a way you could not help but repent and believe. Isn’t that wonderful? He didn’t have to do that. He doesn’t do that for everybody. But he did that for you. That is, if you are in Christ.

An Appeal to the Unconverted

If you are not in Christ today, if you’ve not believed in him as Savior and Lord, if your life is not really about him—it’s about you—then consider whether God is drawing you to turn today to Jesus. Because he does not give his testimony idly.

As I was praying at the beginning of the service, what I’ve shared with you today isn’t my testimony ultimately. It is the testimony of God. And just as it was for Jesus’ original listeners when he spoke these words, and just as it was for John’s original listeners when he reported these words, these are given so that you will repent and believe.

You will not be like the Jews who had the opportunity to see the voice and the form of God and refused. That doesn’t have to be the case for you anymore.

Don’t hide behind shallow excuses for why you cannot repent and believe. Jesus says the real reason that you haven’t yet is just because you simply want to live your own way. But that way is going to end in death. Coming to Jesus, you will have life.

“Don’t hide behind shallow excuses. Coming to Jesus, you will have life.”

How long will you persist and risk the judgment of the Son? If you will instead confess that God is true and repent of your sin, you can come and enjoy, along with the rest of God’s people, the eternal life that is in Jesus.

At this point, we’ve almost finished the fifth chapter of John. As I said before, next time when we come back, we’ll hear Jesus explain more fully what’s really going on in the hearts of supposedly religious people who love God but refuse to believe in Jesus. Spoiler alert: he’s going to say they don’t really love God. They love something else. We’ll talk more about that next time.

Closing Prayer

Let’s close in prayer.

Lord, as you say in your word, your divine testimony, the word of the cross is foolishness to the natural man. But to those of us who believe, those of us, Lord, that you have caused to believe by changing our hearts, it is the power of God unto salvation. It is the wisdom of God, the consummate wisdom of God himself.

Lord, that is what we confess this morning. Your word is truth. Everything you say is right. And what you tell us about Jesus, we can’t help but recognize it to be true.

Thank you for showing us Jesus. Help us more, Lord, to understand about Jesus and to be more like him.

And Lord, when it comes to our evangelism, let us not neglect to give the greatest testimony that you’ve given us to give, which is your word. The words and works of Jesus are recorded here perfectly, along with the scriptures already written of the Old Testament. This is what you have chosen, God, to speak to people with—your own voice.

So God, how could we not use this? How could this not be the primary thing that we bring to people when we seek to make disciples? In worldly wisdom, it doesn’t make sense. But in divine system wisdom, it absolutely does.

So let us not be ashamed of the Gospel. Let us not be ashamed of your testimony. Let us not be ashamed of Jesus, but exalt in him as the True Light that really illuminates the world and every person as to what’s really going on.

Thank you for the light of Jesus. Thank you for showing mercy to us. Help us to walk worthy. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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