Page 58 - The Gospel of John - Student textbook

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seen His form. You don’t have His word living in you, because you don’t believe the One He sent. You pore
over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are
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not willing to come to Me that you may have life. “I do not accept glory from men, but I know you—that
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you have no love for God within you. I have come in My Father’s name, yet you don’t accept Me. If someone
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else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe? While accepting glory from one
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another, you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God. Do not think that I will accuse you to the
Father. Your accuser is Moses; on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would
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believe Me, because he wrote about Me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe My
words?”

Jesus said, “If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.” How many times in Scripture did Jesus make
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pronouncements about His mission, His work, and His identity? He did it over and over again, but here He said,
“If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.” Was He telling us, then, not to believe Him when He
declared who He was or what His mission was? No, He was speaking here in the legal context. He said that His
testimony was not legally valid in a trial setting unless it was verified or corroborated by other sources.

His testimony was not legally valid in a trial setting unless it was verified or
corroborated by other sources.

However, Jesus was not without corroborating witnesses. As He defended Himself against the accusations of the
Jewish leaders, He “called” for witnesses who could support his testimony. Let’s look at these four witnesses
below. As you look at the above versus notice how many times our Lord uses court room language such as,
testimony, testify, and accuse. The significance of what is at stake is seen in the repeated use of “believe” in the
concluding section of the passage (5:38; 44, 46, 46, 47, 47).

Witness Number 1: John the Baptist
Witness Number 2: Miracles
Witness Number 3: The Father
Witness Number 4: The Scriptures

Notice that Jesus tells them that His
purpose insanely sayings is that He desires
to them to be saved. I don’t receive
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man’s testimony, but I say these things so
that you may be saved. What a beautiful
thought! Jesus desires the salvation of
those desiring to kill him.

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