Witnesses to Jesus – John the Baptist and Moses

Who is Jesus? part 58 – John 5:31-47

Courtroom dramas are one of the genres that Hollywood thrives on. Here are a few quotes:

“I mean there is no justice. The rich win; the poor are powerless.” The Verdict.
“You can’t handle the truth.” A few good men.
“You’re out of order! The whole damn system is out of order!” And Justice for All.

The passage below, spoken by Jesus, looks like a courtroom drama, but who is on trial?

A: ³¹ If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. ³² There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ³³ You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 

B: ³⁴ Not that the testimony that I receive is from man,

C: but I say these things so that you may be saved. 

D: ³⁵ He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

E: ³⁶ But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, 

F: bear witness about me

G: that the Father has sent me. 

X: ³⁷ And the Father

G’:who sent me 

F’: has himself borne witness about me.

E’:His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, ³⁸ and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 

D’: ³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 

C’: ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

B’: ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from people. 

A’:⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³ 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. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

John 5:31-46 The text is from ESV UK. The structure is to show the form of a chiasm

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The Gospel according to John, chapter 5, has similarities to chapter 1 in that it is made up of three passages in the form of chiasms or chiasmus. Chiasm, meaning crossing over, is a form used in nearly all Psalms and is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. For this reason, I am referring to these sections as songs, as I did with chapter 1.

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I am looking at this passage over two posts. This one will concentrate on the A, B, C and D passages, as well as the D’, C’, B’ and A’ corresponding parts. The central sections are for the next post.

Jesus is on trial giving his defence speech. It’s difficult to understand the context when this passage is read alone, but he is accused of working on the Sabbath by healing a man. Jesus could have said he simply told a disabled man to get up and take his mat. Instead of addressing the Sabbath issue, he talks about John the Baptist.

John the Baptist has been prominant in John’s Gospel so far. In the very first section it says that John came, but he was not the light and shortly after the Baptist cryptically says of Jesus, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”

John the Baptist was thought very highly of by the people, so Jesus uses that testimony, made by the river. If you think so highly of John as a prohet, says Jesus, why won’t you listen to what he said?

By the time we get to the D’, C’, B’ and A’ sections at the end Jesus is no longer talking about John the Baptist and although the language used is still that of a court case, it does not soung like Jesus is defending himself. Instead it is Jesus’ acusers who are on trial and Jesus is laying down the case for the prosecution.

All through John’s Gospel Chapter 5 the text alludes to passages from Deuteronomy. The whole chapter is linked to God’s law, I wrote about it here, so Jesus moves from John the Baptist as a prophet, on to the bringer of God’s law, Moses.

Moses established the Jewish law, which the Judeans used to try to condemn Jesus. However, Jesus mentions another aspect of Moses, referring to God’s promise: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18). Jesus states that he will not condemn these people because Moses has already done so.

Jesus seems to be the prosecutor, but he says Moses holds that role for the Judeans. According to the verse right before this, Jesus acts as the judge: “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 1:30). Jesus tells them that they have not listened to John or Moses, so he judges them with the same justice as the Father.

Justice is delayed here. Jesus is not judging them yet. He is showing them, and everyone reading John’s Gospel, that judgment will come through Him.

That is what John’s Gospel is all about, who is Jesus?

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