What is the meaning of John 5:47? But since you do not believe John 5:47 begins with Jesus exposing the heart-level refusal of His listeners to trust God’s prior revelation. The Lord is speaking to leaders who publicly uphold Scripture yet internally reject its testimony (John 5:38-40, 44). • Unbelief is not a lack of information—it is willful resistance to truth already given (Romans 1:21-22). • Faith is the God-ordained doorway to understanding; without it, even the clearest evidence remains clouded (Hebrews 3:12-13). • Earlier Jesus said, “You pore over the Scriptures…yet you refuse to come to Me to have life” (John 5:39-40). The contrast is stark: diligent study without personal trust. what he wrote “He” points back to Moses, author of the Pentateuch. Jesus treats Moses’ writings as historically reliable and divinely inspired. • Moses consistently foreshadowed Christ—Passover (Exodus 12), the bronze serpent (Numbers 21; John 3:14-15), the Prophet to come (Deuteronomy 18:15-18; Acts 3:22-23). • “If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). Rejecting Moses therefore equals rejecting the Messiah he predicted. • Scripture’s unity rests on this link: the Old Testament lays the groundwork; the New Testament reveals the fulfillment (Luke 24:27). how will you believe Jesus uses a logical progression: failure at the foundational level (Moses) makes further belief impossible. • Faith grows cumulatively—“faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Ignoring step one stops the journey. • “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12). The principle repeats: unbelief in lesser light blocks the greater. • Luke 16:31 echoes the warning: if people dismiss Moses and the Prophets, even a resurrection will not persuade them. what I say? The climax centers on Jesus’ own words. He speaks with divine authority surpassing Moses (Hebrews 1:1-2). • Rejecting Jesus’ message carries eternal weight—“The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48). • At the Transfiguration the Father commands, “This is My beloved Son…listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5). Heaven itself validates Christ’s supremacy. • Belief in Jesus is not optional add-on; it is the decisive response God requires (John 8:24). summary John 5:47 confronts us with a chain of accountability: God spoke through Moses, Moses pointed to Christ, and Christ now speaks directly to us. Disbelief at any link disrupts the whole. Trusting the written Word leads naturally to trusting the living Word, and both stand or fall together. |
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