In John 5:33-47 the Lord Jesus provides FOUR WITNESSES that prove He is the Son of God and Israel’s Messiah:

1) John the Baptist;

2) Miracles that He performed;

3) God the Father; and

4) The Scriptures.

Verses 33-35 say, “Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.” I would encourage you to also read John 1:19-28 to see that John the Baptist pointed the children of Israel to Christ as their promised Messiah. In John 1:29 he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” thus he also bore witness to Jesus as the sacrificial lamb of Isaiah 53. In John 1:34 he “bare record that this is the Son of God.”

Verse 36 reads, “But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me.” Every miracle that Jesus performed was a “sign” pointing Israel to the truth that their promised Messiah was right in front of them! Earlier in this chapter the Lord Jesus made a lame man to walk. Isaiah the prophet had predicted such miracles in Isaiah 35:6, “Then shall the lame man leap as an hart.” This should have told them that the kingdom was at hand and that Jesus was their King!

Verse 37 declares, “And the Father Himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me.” When and how did the Father bear witness of His Son? When Jesus was baptized as a pledge that He would die on the cross to save sinners, the Father was constrained to speak out. In Matthew 3:17 we read, “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” There were at least two other occasions where the Father’s voice was heard as a testimony to His Son. You can read of them in John 12:28-30 and Matthew 17:1-5.

Verse 39, along with verses 45-47, reveals the powerful testimony of the Holy Scriptures. They read, “Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me…Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words.” Moses and all the Old Testament prophets bore witness to Christ as the Messiah. Though religious scribes and Pharisees were acquainted with the scriptures and loved to point to Moses as their great teacher and law-giver, they failed to see Christ in those very scriptures!

Because of their spiritual blindness, Jesus said in verse 40, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” How sad! Here was the One who could give them eternal life and yet they remained in a state of spiritual death because of their rejection of Christ. This state of spiritual death and blindness will lead them, in a future day, to receive the infamous Antichrist. Jesus foretold this in verse 43, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” How utterly tragic! Witness after witness pointed them to Christ as their true Messiah and yet they refused to receive Him. The same unbelief that led them to reject Christ will cause them to open their hearts to the coming man of sin and this will seal their doom. You can read of this in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12. (167.2) (DO)