John 5:31-40

John 5:31-40 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Scriptures denote Jesus as the Son of Man, for He came in the flesh to live as a human person, and also as the Son of God. Jesus walked this earth in fleshly form, but was led by the Spirit and completely God-like in his actions as He healed, loved, cared, rescued, and judged righteously. As a man in the flesh, He fulfilled all the Old Testament requirements for the anticipated Messiah. Jesus is also known in scripture as the Son of God. Even though He walked in the flesh, He obeyed his Father and walked as God wants his adopted children to live in the Spirit. Engulfed by the Holy Spirit, He became the first fruit of God's salvation plan for new life to mankind while we still remain in our earthly bodies and environment. Literally, Christ became the first child of God in the flesh, a new creature born of the Spirit. As the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus brought the true light of God into this dark world for everyone who would put their trust and faith in God through Christ and his works. Holy scriptures, Christ's miraculous actions, and his unconditional love for people all testify that only Jesus could bear the names: SON OF MAN, SON OF GOD.

When John came to prepare the way for Christ's ministry, he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his earliest days and chosen by God for his mission as a forerunner to the main event. John knew by divine inspiration that he was not Messiah, and he accepted that he would usher in Christ's earthy ministry. As he cried out as a voice in the wilderness and baptized people into repentance, John knew that in Jesus was life; and the life was the light of men. John accepted his role as a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him [Jesus] might believe. (John 1:4 & 7) Like Jesus, John walked among men, preparing them to see God's salvation plan for a fallen people through the only begotten Son. The light of the Holy Spirit shined in John with great brightness for a while, but wicked people led him to court where Harod ordered his beheading. Even such a terrible act could not quench the fire God would unleash through his Son, the power of the Holy Spirit that would lead Christ to the cross to defeat death and the grave. John said he had to decrease that Christ might increase, so Christ's light would never end. Now we who believe IN THE SON OF GOD, the Light of the World, walk in triumphant victory over all things through Christ who loves us. He paid the full price for our redemption, restoration, and authority through the Spirit of God. Truly, we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1John 1:7) We live now and forever because Christ arose and lives eternally in us.

All things are made possible to the believer through faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. He is new life: the voice of God, the truth, the way to the Father. As new creatures in Christ, the same Spirit that used John and raised Christ from the dead lives in and through us. In today's scripture passage, Jesus declares his audience void of God's presence in them because of their unbelief, their unwillingness to hear God and to see him in The Son. They would not believe God sent Jesus as Messiah no matter how many miracles and good works He performed. They would not accept him even though He completely fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies concerning his coming. Their hard hearts and sinful inclinations kept them from seeing the Light and from entering the kingdom of God. As we sit at this table basking in the Light with resurrection life within us, God empowers us to believe in the One He sent, to believe in the scriptures that testify of him. Praise God today. Arise and shine, for the light has come to you and to me. Amen!