Six Witnesses for Jesus (Part 2)
Yesterday, we considered several witnesses for Jesus found in John 5:31-36--Jesus Himself, John the baptizer, and Jesus' works. Today, we will consider two more witnesses.

John 5:37-40 reads - "And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."

WITNESS #4: GOD THE FATHER
The Father testified of Jesus through John the baptizer and the works He enabled Jesus to do. However, the heavenly Father also directly testified of Christ on several occasions (cf. Matt. 3:16,17; 17:5).

The Jewish religious leaders had "neither heard [the Father's] voice" or "seen His form" (John 5:37). Additionally, God's word did not even abide in their hearts because they had rejected Jesus. Their claim to believe in the Scriptures was false since the Scriptures testified of Jesus and genuine faith would have prompted their acceptance of Him (5:38).

WITNESS #5: THE SCRIPTURES
The Father testified of Christ through the Scriptures (5:39). Contrary to the thinking of many, mere familiarity with the word does not of itself assure genuine belief in it. To "search the Scriptures" can lead one to eternal blessings, but only when the heart of the searcher is noble enough to set aside preconceived ideas, cling only to the revealed truth of God's word, and obey Him!

The Jews diligently searched the Old Testament to find the way of life (5:40). Jesus is presented therein as the way of life, yet the Jews rejected Him--thereby rejecting their own Scriptures! Stubbornness of heart, not inability to discover the right way, was the fatal error of these Jews. It has often been said that men perish because of lack of knowledge and this is very true (cf. Hos. 4:6). However, it is also true that others perish because of their refusal to properly use the knowledge they already possess! This is the case with these Jews.

Essentially, Jesus seemed to be saying this: "You think that eternal life is found in the Scriptures. In this, you are correct. But, you are in error in thinking that this life is found there apart from Me. It is there, but only as it points to Me in whom life is. You will not come to Me to find life; thus, in rejecting Me you are rejecting the Scriptures which testify of Me. And so you are without life because you will not come to Me for it."

We will conclude this study concerning the witnesses of Jesus tomorrow.