Human and Divine Testimony John 5:31-47

Jesus continues his defense with the Jewish leaders, by talking about where his credibility comes from. First, he cites the testimony of John the Baptist, described as a lamp that gave light for a time. Then he cites the testimony of the Father. He boldly states that these leaders have never heard the voice of God, nor seen him. And the reason they have not is because of their unbelief (of Jesus). Verse 39 is particularly interesting,

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life."

In the end of the 20th century, Harold Lindsell, former editor of Christianity Today, wrote a book called The Battle for the Bible. It was his contention that the Bible was being undermined by scholars who were treating it as just another piece of literature. That was followed by battles in seminaries and denominations about the authority of Scripture, including a purging done by the Southern Baptist Convention (led mainly by Paige Patterson and a group allied with him). This resulted in the expulsion of Baylor University from the Texas Baptist Convention. Many moderate preachers chose to leave the SBC rather than be held to fundamentalist standards. Some of the fundamentalists took the extreme of bibliolatry, the worship of the Bible, as if it had power on its own. The Jewish leaders had a similar problem. The power of the Scriptures is that they point us to God in Christ through the power of the Spirit.

John has captured Jesus' confrontive style in this passage. You can see why Jesus became so controversial. This is not the Jesus who holds lambs a lot. He has authenticity,confidence,authority and some good old fashioned hutzpa.