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. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. – John 5:37-40
The above passage is one of many documented eye witness records of Jesus’s teaching of who He is. In this case, He was arguing with the Pharisees who were the most prominent religious sect of Judaism during that period of Israel’s history. Because they were the most prominent, they also held the greatest sway over the people of Israel influencing what to believe and how to interpret Scripture. By and large, the practices and the thinking of the religious leadership in Israel were at odds with the efforts of Jesus to reveal the Truth of God. Jesus was God incarnate – therefore, He could only speak that which God the Father would say.
Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. – John 5:19
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. – John 3:17
Nevertheless, just as there is a deep-seated propagation of unbelief in the world today that is becoming more established within its institutions, the religious establishment of the time of Jesus earthly ministry wanted to silence Jesus almost from the nearly the beginning of His ministry. Less we forget, going back further, the dark side of the Christmas story, how rejection of Christ leads men in power to great evil:
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” – Matthew 2: 3-8
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”
Matthew 2:16-18
Because of powerful influences like the Pharisees over the people of Israel many people chose not to believe who Jesus repeatedly revealed Himself to be. Granted, the people of that day did not have the Bible and the evidence found throughout the New Testament, however, many people remained lost despite His many miraculous works of healing and the clarity and the authority of which He spoke about the Jewish law as preserved in the Books of Moses and of the Prophets. During those days, the religious rulers continued with their deceptive lies proclaiming that Jesus was filled with demons (as an excuse for the signs He performed which were the good works of God).
All were not deceived
Repeatedly, people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching, the following excerpts are examples from the Bible:
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. – Matthew 7:28-29
14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” – John 7:14-15
Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. – John 2:23
46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” – John 7:46
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him. John 4:28-30
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” – John 4:39
Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue – John 12:42
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. – John 9:16 (underlines and italics added for emphasis).
From a man who was healed from lifelong blindness, arguing with the Pharisees:
30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” – John 9:30-33
Jesus revealed with clarity that He and only He has such a relationship with God and He could speak what has been revealed through Him by God the Father. He also revealed how He was written of and prophesied of through Scripture; however, the Jewish leaders departed from the truth, having been corrupted by they own fallen nature and the system they championed for their own selfish purposes.
We are all subject to being fooled by our fallen nature.
Those who did not believe sought answers only in the physical realm based on their strong biases, favoring immorality or disabled by their own self-centered reasoning.
25 Jesus answered those who rejected God’s works and favored un-Godly religion, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.” – John 10:25-30
The time to repent is now, the invitation still is open. This is the Age of Grace and God’s grace and the Light that shines in the darkness is still accessible.
Let this approaching Christmas season offer you greater understanding of the need to recognize that God sought fit to enter the world, even as a helpless baby, to ultimately reveal Himself to us to let us know that eternal salvation and the liberation from fear of judgment is a matter of accepting His Son’s work on the Cross, for the forgiveness of your sin and for the hope of a beautiful life in God’s kingdom that begins now in our earthly life.
Jesus spoke, 4 “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” – John 9:4-5
For a detailed explanation of who Jesus Christ is from the Bible’s perspective go to the video in this website , “Who is Jesus Christ?”
CKY
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