John 5:30-47

Order of Service

• Hymn — Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
• Call to Worship — Psalm 103:1-22
• Hymn — Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8
• Baptism — Valerie Pervis
• Prayer
• Hymn — Spirit of the Living God
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — We Come, O Christ, to You
• Sermon
• Hymn — Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Witnesses to the Son

Scripture: John 5:30-47

I. The Witness of the Father Concerning the Son

A. Jesus acknowledges the witness of John the Baptist but points to a greater witness — the Father himself (John 5:32-38)

B. The Father's witness to the Son is direct, not mediated through a third party

1. At Jesus's baptism, the Father speaks directly: "This is my beloved Son" — no prophet required
2. Jesus speaks with divine authority ("But I say to you") — the Father witnesses through the Son's own words and works (Hebrews 1:1-2)
3. The Son does and says only what the Father does and says; to see the Son's works is to see the Father's witness

C. The Father bearing direct witness to the Son distinguishes Jesus from a mere prophet, priest, or king — he is the eternal Son always in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18)

II. The Witness of John the Baptist Concerning the Son

A. Jesus appeals to John's witness not because he needs it, but to accommodate himself to his hearers for their salvation (John 5:34)

1. John was widely received — all Israel, including the leadership, came out to him
2. John created nationwide anticipation for the Messiah's arrival
3. Yet when Messiah came — healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising the paralyzed — the leaders rejected him

B. The failure to move from receiving John to receiving Jesus exposes the real problem (John 5:41-44)

1. They seek glory from one another rather than the glory that comes from God alone
2. Their vast scriptural knowledge was rendered blind because their focus was inverted — on self and man rather than on God
3. Eyes and ears trained on self cannot see or hear the Son, no matter how diligently the scriptures are searched

C. The fifth Sola — Soli Deo Gloria — is not a throwaway phrase; it is the dividing line between belief and unbelief

1. Adam forfeited life by grasping at equality with God
2. The Son of God stripped himself of equality with God to glorify the Father (Philippians 2:6-8)
3. Discipleship requires crucifying self-glory to seek the glory of God alone in the face of the Son

III. The Witness of Moses Concerning the Son

A. Moses was the supreme authority in first-century Judaism — to invoke Moses against the leaders was extraordinarily provocative (John 5:45-47)

1. The leaders' entire identity was built on Mosaic teaching and Torah expertise
2. Jesus declares that Moses himself accuses them and that Moses wrote of him
3. Failure to believe Moses's writings means failure to believe Christ's words

B. Jesus's confrontation serves a divine purpose — hardening those already hardened in heart

1. As the Father hardened Pharaoh so that redemption through the Passover lamb might be glorified, so Christ hardens these leaders
2. He is speaking to the very men who will put him on the cross, and God uses glory-of-man seekers as instruments to bring glory to himself through the blood of his only Son
3. Moses stands with Elijah at the Transfiguration as a witness to Christ's glory — the irony of using Moses's law to crucify the one Moses testified to

C. The new Exodus: Christ as the greater Moses and the true Passover Lamb

1. His blood is applied to the doorposts of our hearts by the Spirit through faith
2. In him we are redeemed from the law, sin, and death, passing from death to life (Colossians 2:11-15)
3. To believe in Christ is to join the great cloud of witnesses to Soli Deo Gloria — the glory of God alone in the face of the Son alone