There aren’t many things in life you can really be sure about, but we’re going to see here that you can be certain about Jesus. In fact, it’s crucial to you that you come to terms with the truth about Jesus and are certain of the truth.
The reason is that Jesus claims exclusivity. He said that no-one can come to the Father (to God) except through him. I.e. all other religions are false, and will not lead you to God.
So, if you’re a Christian, you’re hanging your eternity on Christ. So you need to be sure he is who he says he is.
Equally, if you’ve never gone to God for forgiveness of your sin, trusting in Jesus’ work for you alone, then Jesus’ words mean that you’re excluded from life with God.
Whoever you are, you need to be certain about Jesus.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered in July 2024 at Bromborough Evangelical Church, Wirral. You can find more in the series in our Sermon Index.
Listen to human testimony (31-35)
John 5 is a complete unit. John’s gospel tends to be made up of fairly large components, compared with Matthew, Mark and Luke – so you need to keep zooming in and out.
At the start of John 5, Jesus went to a pool in Jerusalem. Around the pool were many sick and paralysed people, and for some reason Jesus chose just one man, and told him, “Pick up your mat and walk.” He did.
Some people there were incensed that it was done on the Sabbath (because of manmade rules about carrying stuff). Jesus made them more angry still by saying that he was working on the Sabbath in the same way his Father (God) was. Read John 5:17-18.
So last week we looked at Jesus’ reply in detail. He is the eternal Son of the Father. The Son (Jesus) does whatever the Father does (sustaining the universe, giving/taking life, hearing prayer). He acts with sovereign will, choosing whoever he will. The Father gave “life in himself” to the Son, and he also gave him the right to judge all humanity.
Frankly, those are enormous claims from Jesus.
How can you know?
How can you be certain about Jesus?
Read John 5:31. “There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis” (as the song goes). Anyone can claim things about themselves – but you need external testimony and evidence to know if it’s true.
Read John 5:32. He’s speaking about the Father. Jesus knew who he was; he also knew the Father. Jesus had no self-doubt, no uncertainty, because he knew the Father. But what value is that to you?
Read John 5:33-34. The people in Jerusalem had sent people to the river Jordan to hear what John the Baptist had been saying. John’s testimony had been powerful and true. What testimony? John 1:29-30 John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”
Jesus is saying he didn’t need John’s testimony to convince him, because he knew who he was (eternal Son of the Father).
Listen to testimony
But you? You might well find John’s testimony helpful. He saw the Spirit descending on Jesus as he baptised him. John’s God-given job was to point people to Jesus, the coming Messiah. And he did!
Or you might not. “But I say these things so that you may be saved.” Listen to personal testimony.
Jesus has some cast iron certainty to share with you, but if you’re convinced about him because of something someone else said, then that’s fine. So read books; speak to Christians; ask questions.
That shows the power of personal testimony. We might not all be public speakers, but if you’re a Christian you have a personal testimony. Even if your days are difficult, God’s presence and help remains part of your testimony. Never underestimate. Share your personal testimony.
Read John 5:35. People love a fad, and even John the Baptist was treated as a fad after a while.
There’s a feeling in society that you can enjoy something for a while, and then move on to the next thing. Technology, fashion, politics, celebrities. Ideologies too.
But what Jesus has to say is certain. Because of who he is:
See for yourself who Jesus is (36-40)
Jesus provides you with two witnesses to who he is; two testimonies that demonstrate that he is sent by God. And remember, if he truly is sent by God then the things he claims for himself must be true – that he’s the eternal Son, sent by God to save you.
Read John 5:36. The works that Jesus did were remarkable.
To this point in John’s gospel, we’ve see three miracles / signs:
- He turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
- Then he healed a child from 25 miles away
- And here he’s healed a man paralysed for 38 years.
But his works were wider than that too. It includes his teaching, his doing good, his whole ministry. He turned over the tables of the money changers in the Temple to highlight how secular and unholy everything had become. More was to come: Miraculous signs like feeding the 5,000, walking on water, even raising the dead. And the biggest of all: His own death and resurrection.
Taken as a whole, his works were beyond what any one man could achieve under his own steam.
“These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent me.”
Can we trust the Bible?
“Yes, but,” you might say, “how can we trust the Bible that Jesus actually said and did all these things?”
I’d answer that with three things:
- First, there is no historical document as complete and accurate in its ancient copies as the Bible. Nothing comes close. What you have in your hand is a good modern translation of what was written by eye-witnesses who were there.
- Second, Jesus’ works are still going on. The book of Acts describes the gospel of Luke as being about what Jesus “began” to do. Acts is about what Jesus carried on doing through his church in heaven. Every Christian you know, and every church, is Jesus’ ongoing work in the world. The peace and joy that you see in Christians is his work. Lives transformed are his work. “These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent me.”
- Third, the Bible simply is the word of God. You don’t have to defend a lion; it can look after itself. The Bible is authoritative in and of itself. Outside references might confirm bits here and there, but God doesn’t need external authorities to check if what he said is true.
So trust what you read about Jesus’ works in the Bible because those works testify and make certain to you that Jesus was sent by God the Father to save you.
But you have to read the Bible well – and Jesus goes on to explain to his hearers there in Jerusalem that they weren’t.
Scripture points to Jesus
Read John 5:37-38.
- You have not heard his voice at any time – unlike Moses
- and you haven’t seen his form – unlike Jacob (Israel)
- You don’t have his word residing in you – despite Psalm 119:11)
In effect: You don’t have the living faith of the people you read about in the Old Testament because you don’t believe in me.
How can he suggest that? Read John 5:39-40.
I met a Jew who said he reads the Hebrew out in the synagogue but he had no idea what it meant.
I knew a Muslim who could read the Quran in Arabic, but had no idea what it meant.
There are those who think that reading holy text will, in some way, impress God and go in their favour for eternal life.
But Jesus claims that the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) testifies about him: If you’re not led to him, you’re not reading it right. Scripture points you to Jesus. And only Jesus can give you life.
Not just easy proof-texts
The entire sweep of the Old Testament will take you to him.
- The law will both point out your sin, but also show that God intends to dwell among his people and provide a means by which you can come to him. A system of sacrifice for atonement of sin; a high priest to represent you before God.
- There’s hope of a king who will reign with perfect righteousness forever.
- You’ll read of a prophet who will teach and call you to repentance and faith and life.
- A Messiah who will die for the sins of his people, punished by God so that you might life with him forever – on a new earth!
- (Do you need any more encouragement to read the OT?)
We’re called an evangelical church because of our emphasis on Bible teaching – the “evangel”, the “good news”.
But we don’t worship the Bible, but rather the one it points us to. Jesus told us to make disciples of him, not students of scripture.
Don’t outsource your belief to someone else – a priest, a family member. Read John 5:40 again.
You go to him in prayer; repent of your sin, ask his forgiveness, and live.
Trust in Christ (41-47)
A few years ago someone in the local community shared a YouTube video of Ricky Gervais saying something negative about Christianity.
- I replied with some kind of answer.
- He replied to me saying that he’d gone on our website and seen what it says about our beliefs. He quoted the bit that says, “The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.”
- He said that was so ridiculous that he wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say.
Without any irony, he preferred the wisdom of a comedian speaking on YouTube.
When Jesus spoke, he wasn’t trying to win YouTube viewers, followers, or fans.
Read John 5:41-44.
Jesus only did and spoke what pleased God the Father. People speak to impress one another. It’s even true of some celebrity pastors – and the acclaim of people has caused many to fall into self-idolatry instead of humility. Worse still are the false teachers who teach health, wealth and prosperity, because that’s what people want to hear.
They don’t love God (v42), only each other.
They ignore the one God sent (Jesus) in favour of teaching stuff that sounds easier.
Dangerous religion
Even those who claim to be Christians but who don’t actually go to Jesus themselves are in grave danger.
- Read John 5:45-47.
- Imagine being an expert in the Bible, but never actually going to the one that it’s all about – Jesus!
- It’s like owning a collection of healthy recipes, loving to look at all the pictures, understanding their nutrition – but then living off McDonald’s.
You can read your Bible, come here, join in, etc – but unless you believe Jesus’ words and works and then go to him, you’re lost.
In fact, your religion would condemn you when you’d hoped that it would save you.
- On the day he judges you for your life, he could ask you, “Why did you ignore what Moses, Isaiah, Matthew, Luke, Paul, John and all the others wrote about me?”
- And you’ll say, “But I did read them. I can quote them. I did my best to keep the laws. I sang with everyone else!”
- But he then answers you with v46: “if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.”
Be sure and live!
But remember: All this is so that you will have confidence, so that you will be certain about Jesus.
He has made such radical claims about himself that you need to know you can trust him.
If you’re convinced by human testimony, listen to that – and then go to Jesus for forgiveness and life.
Or see for yourself: Dig into the Bible, trust it, think about what Jesus did – and then go to Jesus for forgiveness and life.
Don’t rest on ‘religion’ or even brilliant Bible knowledge. The Bible is about Jesus – so go to him.
And for those who have, you can rejoice every day in the truth of what Jesus said to you in John 5:24.
“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.”