In the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Welcome to Coptic Orthodox Answers Deep Dive where we dive deeper together in the Gospel of John. We saw last time the healing of the paralytic man in John 5 where Christ came and He healed the paralytic man that was paralyzed for 38 years and we saw how this was symbolic to baptism and then we saw how He purposely did this on that Sabbath. Because being... doing this work on the Sabbath meant that He is equal to the Father, that He's above the Sabbath, He's above all of these rules, and at the same time, He wanted to make it a point to say to the Pharisees that the correct understanding of the Sabbath does not mean that you cannot do good on the Sabbath. So, that lead into tension between Him and the Pharisees in verses 16 to 30, and we're about to continue with verse 31 right now.
Verse 31 says:
'' 31 ''If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. [Obviously Christ knows that His witness is true. Therefore, he says:] 32 There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.'' '' (John 5:31-32)
So, Christ understands their own background and their context. In the Jewish law, you need at least a testimony of two people and more for something to be considered as truth or allegeable, right? So here, Christ is saying: I understand that you're seeing me and thinking that I'm witnessing to Myself, but no, no, no, there's someone else that witnesses for Me. There's a second person and that person that He talks about is obviously the Father. And the Father witnesses for the Son through the miracles. That's pretty much the message He's saying here.
Moving on to verse 33:
'' 33 ''You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35 He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.'' '' (John 5:33-35)
So, He's saying to them: Look, you are looking for a witness, I understand you. That's why you went to John the Baptist and asked him who he was. And John responded and said that he was not the Messiah and he said the Messiah was coming. And then, he baptized Me and he said: this is the Messiah. So, John has witnessed that I am the Messiah and you are in
need of a witness, generally speaking. Then in 34 he says: Yet I do not receive testimony from man, so I do not care much about the testimony of St. John the Baptist. I don't need testimony from man, 'cause I have my own testimony and the one of the Father. In myself, being God, equal to the Father, we do not consider testimony of man as being valid. We... we're above all of these things. But I say these things, I'm willing to go down to that level that you may be saved, so, believe me.
John was the burning and shining lamp and you were willing, for a time, to rejoice in his light. You saw his deeds, you saw how righteous he was and you were willing, for a time, to rejoice in his light. Now, therefore, come and rejoice in the current light, Me, the Messiah, being here on earth. Notice how, in verse 35, it speaks about John the Baptist in the past, that the Pharisees were willing, for a time, to rejoice in his light. This means that potentially, at this point in time, when Christ is speaking, that John the Baptist was already put in prison.
36:
'' 36 ''But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. '' '' (John 5:36)
So, He's saying here, clearly, My Father witnesses of Me and He witnesses of Me through the works, so, these works are also a witness. And therefore, all of My works, including the last one, which is the healing of the paralytic man even on the Sabbath, is evidence of My Godhead.
37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. '' '' (John 5:37)
So, you claim that you know God the Father, but you don't. I know God the Father. I have seen Him. I have heard His voice. I can tap in into His will, but you can't. I am God; you are human beings. I am the Creator; you are the creation. Therefore, believe in me. In verse 38, He continues the comparison:
'' 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.'' '' (John 5:38)
You might think that you could be obedient to the Father but yet reject Me, but that cannot happen, is what He's saying. The fact that you're rejecting Me shows that you do not have the word of the Father abiding in you, because whom He sent, who is Me, you don't believe. But you cannot have it both ways. Or you accept Me, and therefore you accept the Father, or you reject Me, but in the process, you do also reject the Father.
Moving on to verse 39:
'' 39 ''You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. [Obviously, the Scriptures here, he's speaking about the Old Testament and the Old Testament does testify of Christ in many, many, many ways but that's a huge topic on its own.] 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.'' '' (John 5:39-40)
About this, St. John Chrysostom says the following:
''Beloved, let us make [a] great account of spiritual things, [do] not think that it is sufficient for us [for] salvation to pursue them anyhow (without great care) [meaning, when it comes to spiritual things, we have to really be diligent on how we approach them]. For if in things of this life a man can gain no great profit if he conduct them in an indifferent and chance ([or] haphazard) way, much more will this be the case in spiritual things, since these require yet greater attention. [So, he's saying often, we approach earthly matters very diligently and if we approach them with indifference, then they will not go well, then even more so with spiritual things, he's saying.] Wherefore Christ when He referred the Jews to the Scriptures [discussing about this passage we just read], sent them not to a mere reading [He's saying: don't only read!], but a careful and considerate search; for He said not, Read the Scriptures, but, Search the Scriptures.'' (St. John Chrysostom)
So Christ calls us to read, to search, to enjoy, to eat the Scripture. The Bible is the life-giving Word of God. It's a deep ocean of spirituality. It's a treasure that is hidden, that we have to eat and enjoy and, through it, it becomes a means for us to... to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is super important, super crucial!
It is sad sometimes when you see someone that says: you know, I don't read the Bible, because I don't like to read, or someone that, you know, listens to sermons rather than reading the Bible. No, no, no, we have to read, we have to search, we have to enjoy the Scriptures. And once we have done this, yes, we can go and read interpretations, listen to sermons in addition to the reading of the Scriptures. But please, let us dig deeper in Scripture, according to what Christ is telling us to do.
Moving on to verse 41:
'' 41 ''I do not receive honor from men. 42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.'' '' (John 5:41-42)
So, Christ here starts with a comparison between Himself and them and he says: I don't receive honour from men, but I know you; you don't have the love of God in you. I am willing to sacrifice myself for others and for the sake of the truth, but you don't; you don't have love for God; you don't have love for truth and not even love for others; all you care about is yourselves.
'' 43 ''I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name [potentially the Antichrist], him you will receive.'' '' (John 5:43)
Right? And truly the spirit of the Antichrist is already in the world, meaning not the Antichrist himself, but the spirit of the Antichrist who lives in many people.
'' 44 ''How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?'' '' (John 5:44)
If you believe in Me, that will ultimately mean unpopularity for you, and you know this, and because of this, you reject Me. Because what you really care about is honour for yourself and you seek that honour from other people. You don't seek honour from God and you do not seek honour from Me.
The Jews had a personal gain and that gain was earthly, which is the honour from others. And because of this, their judgment was flawed and because of this, their hearts were hardened. Yet we do the same all the time, right? We want to have God's laws in our own way, subjectively, according to our own wants, our own desires. We put filters when we read the Scripture, we put filters when we hear sermons, right? Often we do this, because our minds are very earthly, which is very wrong.
Saint James says:
'' 4 ...Whoever (...) wants to be a friend [with] the world makes himself an enemy of God [which is very scary].'' (James 4:4)
Whoever wants to be a friend of the world therefore makes himself an enemy of God. These verses are very difficult on our ears, but they're there; they are in Scripture. And they are meant to lead us to repentance, that we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, because any big sin can happen, can lead us astray. And it's not because the door of repentance is always open that we will necessarily take it, because our hearts become harder and harder.
We all wanna be like the right hand thief sometimes, but we forget that he's an exception; he is not the rule. And therefore, we have to be careful and we have to offer repentance. We have to take the Scripture as it is and we have to ask God, through a prayerful reading of the Scripture, to lead us to repentance and for us to live a righteous life in him.
Verse 45 says:
'' 45 ''Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you— Moses, in whom you trust.
46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?'' '' (John 5:45-47)
Perhaps, here, the Jews thought that Moses would commend them for their zeal against Christ. So Jesus here wisely takes Moses on His side and says: Moses spoke about Me. Again, go search the Scriptures, learn, believe in them, and therefore, believe in Me.
Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.
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Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith.