John 5:31-47

We've settled for less. We’ve been happy with the inferior. We stopped before we got to the end. We got stuck, and it’s time to get unstuck.

We’ve settled for the Bible, the Word of God, and we’ve missed Jesus, the Word of God. I know this sounds strange, to settle for the Bible, that the Bible is inferior. After all, we love God’s word. We hear God’s word preached every week. We respect, we cherish, we even revere God’s word. This is a very special book.

But as much as we love the Bible, as much as we respect and cherish and even revere scripture, we should be loving and respect and cherishing and revering and listening to THE Word of God, the final Word of God, Jesus Himself. There’s a difference between spending time in scripture and spending time with Jesus, and that difference has a huge effect on our lives. One should lead to the other. Spending time in scripture should lead us to spending time with Jesus. Unfortunately, sometimes, spending time in scripture without spending time with Jesus can lead to burden. It can pile on the laws and expectations and make us think that salvation is our work, and not the work that Jesus is doing.

So, are you spending time reading the Word of God, or are you spending time WITH the Word of God? This is the question Jesus is asking here in John 5. He’s speaking to the Pharisees, the experts in the law. These are the people who know scripture better than anyone else. They know how many words there are in the 10 commandments. How many words! They know every single little law there is in the book of Leviticus. They know God’s word. It’s their life, it’s their job, it’s what they do with their time.

But in spite of all that time in God’s word, they’re missing what’s right in front of them. Even though they’ve been reading the word of God, they’re missing God Himself, right there. They’re resisting Him. They’re ignoring Him. They’ll end up putting Him to death. So Jesus has a word with them. Jesus knows that they aren’t going to listen to Him without some witnesses to back up His claims. Verse 31:

Not that what He’s saying about Himself is wrong. Just that they won’t believe Him on His own. Which is sad enough. But Jesus goes along with it for the moment. Okay, He says, if you won’t believe Me, here are 5 witnesses to prove who I am and to get you to pay attention to Me. To get your nose out of the books and to look at Me and be with Me and love Me.

So, first witness. Verse 32:

John came, preaching about the lamb of God who would come to take away the sin of the world. He preached repentance, and salvation that could be found only in the one whose sandals he was unworthy to tie. John knew who Jesus was, even before they heard the voice coming down from heaven at Jesus’ baptism, saying "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

And what’s strange is that the Pharisees liked John. Verse 35:

The Pharisees came out and listened to him, and they believed what he was talking about. So why couldn’t they believe John about Jesus? Why couldn’t they see that Jesus was the lamb of God, who was taking away the sins of the world? It doesn’t make sense.

So, witness number two. Verse 36:

By this time in Jesus’ ministry, He has turned six barrels of water into fine wine. He has healed a man who was paralyzed for 38 years. And, He has raised back to life the son of a very important ruler in that country. He had brought a boy back to life. So, come on! Who else could do that but God? Jesus has been teaching the truth, God’s truth, and confirming it with incredible miracles. But they would still not pay attention to Him. They still would not listen to Him speak. They still would not spend time with Him. They still would not love Him. What’s it going to take?!?

So, witness number three. Verse 37:

Either you get it or you don’t. Either you know Jesus, or you don’t have a clue about Him. The Father gives His testimony to our hearts, but we won’t know this testimony unless we first believe in Jesus, unless we first know Jesus. We don’t believe Jesus because of the testimony. We believe Jesus, and THEN we receive the testimony. 1 John 5:9,10 says:

This is hard to explain to someone who doesn’t have this experience. There’s no words describe what knowing Jesus is like. It’s not just knowing about Him. It’s knowing HIM. If you know Him, then you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t know Him, I can’t explain it to you.

But there’s still two more witnesses to lead us to Jesus. The fourth witness is in verse 39:

Let’s just think here a minute. Isaiah 7:14:

Or Isaiah 11:1

Or this biggie, from Micah 5:

Do these sound familiar, Jesus is saying. Do they remind you of anyone? Anyone you can think of? Anyone who might be standing right here in front of you? No? You diligently study the scriptures, but you still miss Me.

Well, there’s one more. Jesus has saved the biggest for the last. Verse 46:

Moses was the greatest prophet who had ever lived. If Moses said it, the Pharisees were believing it. And God said, through Moses, in Deuteronomy 18:18:

Moses said that someone would be coming who would bring God’s word. Moses! Now, if Moses predicted a prophet would come, shouldn’t the people who hung on every word that Moses spoke, shouldn’t they be recognizing that prophet when they actually see Him? Get your nose out of the book and see the Person!

Can you see the Person, or are you stuck in the book? Do you know Jesus, or do you know the verses in the Bible about Jesus? There’s a difference, a big difference, and it shows up in how we live our lives.

When we pray, do we pray to Someone who is here, now, watching, interacting, responding to our words, smiling or frowning with our joy or sadness? Or are we praying because we know we’re supposed to pray? If we’re supposed to pray, and that’s why we do, then the long prayer this morning is going to be very, very long, a little boring, and without a lot of meaning. But if we’re talking to a Person, a real live breathing Person, then we’re talking to a Friend. We’re talking to our Lord, our Master, the only wise God, who loves us and is loving us. If this is how we pray, then we’ll pray more, and we won’t want to stop praying, it’s so good to talk to Him.

And when we serve, who are we serving? Are we serving our Lord, who searched for us when we locked up in our prisons of sin, the prisons we had built for ourselves? Are we serving our Savior who came and rescued us, and in the process of rescuing us, died Himself? Are we serving our Jesus, our Friend, who gave everything? Or are we doing the work we do around here because someone has to. We have to have a Sunday School, so I guess I’ll be a teacher. We have to have a worship committee, so, okay, I’ll do it. If that’s why we’re serving, we’ll get frustrated and tired and resentful. But if we’re serving our Rescuer, our Savior, our Friend Jesus, we will serve eagerly, joyfully, because we love Him so much.

And who are we talking about when we tell others about Jesus? Are we talking about a guy who lived a long time ago in a land far, far away, who has very little to do with us here in Minnesota right now, October 28? Or are we talking about our God who is with us, surrounding us, leading us, holding us up, holding our hand, giving us life? People aren’t attracted to a book. They’re attracted to a Person, a living, breathing, thinking, interactive Person. The book is how they get to know the Person, but it’s the Person, it’s Jesus they will want to have a relationship with. And if we are struggling ourselves with relating, interacting with Jesus, then how will they ever get it?

We love the Bible. Who Jesus is is explained and revealed in this book, so of course we want to read and ingest and soak up these words. But only because it’s about our Savior. And the Bible keeps our understanding of Jesus true and pure. Who Jesus is and what He says will never contradict what the Bible tells us. We may think we know Jesus, but really what we’re doing is distorting Him with our own imaginations. The Bible keeps us knowing the real Jesus, not just some made-up version of Him.

But the Bible is supposed to lead us to Him, to see Him with eyes of faith, to hear Him speak words of encouragement. Most of the time, those words will be the words of the Bible. But those words will come at just the right time. You’ll hear:

And you’ll know that’s Jesus speaking to you. Or

And these won’t be just words written 3,000 years ago, not just ink on a page. These are words spoken by the strongest, most able Person you know, who always keeps His promises, who does what He does because He loves you so much.

Paul said, in Philippians 3, that he had tried to follow the teaching of scripture to the letter. He had tried to do what the text told him to do. And he got pretty good at it, as a Pharisee. And then he looked up and realized that it was all worth nothing, compared to knowing Jesus. Paul wanted to know Jesus more than anything else. He pressed on to know Jesus.

Because Paul knew this truth: The closer we come to Jesus, the easier all this gets. The more we are aware of Him, and not just information about Him, the more comforted we feel and the more holy we live our lives. So over the next few weeks, we’re going to get to know Jesus better. We’re going to see Him moving through the gospels, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. And as we see Him moving through the Bible, we’ll understand better how He’s moving with us through our lives. We’ll know Him better.

Because Christianity is about a Person, not a book. It’s about Jesus, not the scriptures. The Bible leads us to the Person. Jesus saves us, not reading. Jesus protects us, not these words. Come to Jesus. Don’t just come to words ABOUT Jesus. Come to Jesus. Don’t settle for devotionals that describe. Come to HIM. Talk to HIM. Be with HIM. Know HIM. Love HIM.