Look, Search, and Find
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Introduction
Introduction
We are going to take this really slow today.
There are some things in life that are hard to search for and hard to find.
I love gold panning.
Finding flakes of gold in dirt is very difficult.
You find a river or stream where you think there might be gold, you dig a little out an throw it in your pan and get to work.
Slowly you get all the big rocks out.
Then the small rocks.
Then the fools gold.
Then the sand.
Then underneath the sand, hopefully you found gold.
Looking for Jesus in scripture can be that way.
Take the creation story -
In the beginning God said...
And He made the stars and the moon.
And the earth and the oceans
And the birds of the air, and the beasts of the ground.
You search the story, you look at the story, but can you find Jesus in it?
Where is the gold?
The Gold is found in
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
The Jews were good at searching scripture - they were bad at finding Jesus in it.
Then eventually
Three things we are going to do:
1. Look at Scripture to see Jesus
2. Search Scripture - and see Jesus the Word, in the word
3. Find eternal salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
John 5:18
For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
John 5:31-47
John 5:31-47
“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. “There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
“You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. “But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
“But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.
“And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. “I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Let’s Pray
John 5:31
“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.
This is an interesting statement that Jesus makes - “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.”
Why would Jesus testimony be untrue?
Jesus is about to use Scripture to defend Himself
“On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously.
“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.
Jesus goes to the Law of Moses - to the Torah - and says, “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.” But when you look at this verse in Deuteronomy Jesus shows, that there needs to be evidence of two or three witnesses for a matter to be confirmed.
John 5:32
“There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
We need to pause at this verse - because Jesus is talking about God the Father
I will come back to this verse in just a minute
John 5:33
“You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
John the Baptist testified about Jesus
I am not the Christ -
I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know -
Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! -
Behold, the Lamb of God -
John 10:40-41
“But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
“But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
Jesus did not need the testimony of John the Baptist - He already had the testimony of the Father - in verse 32
Jesus did not need the testimony of John the Baptist - He already had the testimony of the Father - in verse 32
If you can’t trust the testimony of the Father - maybe you will trust the testimony of John the Baptist
You once rejoiced in his light
John the Baptist was like a lamp - if we think about this with the lenses of a 1st century Jew - John the Baptist was like an oil lamp. A lamp cannot produce light on it’s own, it must be lit. The wick will burn, the oil will burn, but eventually it will run out and go out.
Jesus says these things so that you may be saved.
While the Jews were accusing Him of Blasphemy for saying that God was HIs Father, He was also concerned about their salvation.
The rest of our verses today focus on salvation.
John 5:36
“But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.
Jesus Appeals
Jesus appeals to His works
Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana - John 2:1-11
Jesus healed the royal officials son in Capernaum - John 4:46-54
Jesus healed the paralytic at Bethesda -
We’ve read about these three miracles already in John - in the coming weeks we are going to look at more miracles
Feeding of the 5000
Jesus walking on water
Healing the blind man
Raising Lazarus from death
Jesus is going to make three indictments against the Jews
“And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
Three Indictments
Three Indictments
You never heard His Voice
You have never seen HIs form
God’s word does not dwell in you
John 5:37-38
“And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.
John 5:
Three Indictments
Three Indictments
You never heard His Voice
Unlike Moses, and you do not here God’s word in Jesus voice
You have never seen HIs form
You have never seen HIs form
You do not see God in Jesus
God’s word does not dwell in you
Jesus is the Word, you searched the word and missed the Word
Jesus is bringing home the point in these next verses.
These are Jesus closing argument
I want you to close your eyes and listen to his closing arguments
John 5:39-47
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. “I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Open your eyes
The Jews put their hope in Moses - but didn’t realize that He is their accuser
The Jews searched the scriptures for eternal life and missed Jesus
Closing
People all around us are missing Jesus
They drive to the mountains and miss creation
They search for spirituality and find dead religion
They search science and miss the creator
It’s no different than the Jews
They searched scripture and missed Jesus
They heard the voice of Jesus and missed the voice of God
They missed the form of God, by missing Jesus
Don’t be like the Jews - don’t miss Jesus
Don’t let your friends and family miss Jesus
Look, Search, and Find
Look around - see Jesus in Creation, see the creator in the created
1. Look at Scripture to see Jesus
2. Search Scripture - and see Jesus the Word, in the word
3. Find eternal salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
Search Scripture - and see Jesus the Word, in the word
Find eternal salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
Let’s Pray
“He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.”
John 10:
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:
John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.
John
Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,
and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
John 1:
John 1:36
They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
John
The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!