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?”
We need to remember that this entire discourse by Jesus rose out of the conflict over Sabbath breaking earlier in this chapter. Thus, Jesus now returned to the Mosaic Law. This is the final corroborative witness to Jesus. Jesus did not come as a judge but as the Savior (Jn 3:17). Moses, not the Lord, will judge these people.
The final verses of this chapter end with a peculiar twist. The Jews prided themselves in knowledge of the Mosaic Law but it was that very Law that condemned them.
5:45
Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father;
Jesus did not need to accuse Israel. There was something else that would do that. He did not need to accuse this crowd; their own Scripture did it for Him.
there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.
The Mosaic Law accused Israel and condemned them because they broke their covenant with God. The first five books of Moses clearly taught that Jesus was the Messiah.
5:46
For if [and it is not true] you believed Moses, you would believe Me;
The “if” in this phrase is “if, and it is not true that” they believed Moses (second class condition in the Greek). Israel did not truly believe Moses or else they would have trusted the Messiah when He came. Jesus put His words on the same plane as Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament).
for he wrote about Me.
Moses wrote about the Messiah, who was Jesus the Lord. By rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, the Jews refused to accept their own Scripture.
5:47
But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
If Israel was to truly believe Moses, they would have believed in Jesus as the Messiah. The Old Testament clearly pointed to who Jesus was (Ge 3:15; 22:18; 49:10; Nu 24:17; Dt 18:15; Lu 16:29-31; Jn 12:41).
There is a parallel between the writings of Moses and Jesus’ words. Rejection of Moses was rejection of Christ. That should have blown their bias away.
PRINCIPLE:
The Word of God lays bare biases.
APPLICATION:
Israel, who rejected truth taught by Moses whom they respected, would not respond to truth set forth by Jesus whom they despised. They thought that God would accept them by their keeping the law. If people do not understand and believe Scriptures, a document that they trust, how can they ever believe the truth?
The great privilege of knowing God’s Word can be a great judgment against our souls. Knowing the Bible can give us a big head, but we need to ask if it gives us a burning heart.
