Summary of passage: Jesus explains how John the Baptist has testified for him. How the work he is doing is a testimony for who Jesus is. God has testified for him. The Word has testified for him. Jesus says they do not believe who he is.
Questions:
11) Part-personal Question. My answer: John the Baptist verse 33. The work God has given him and that Jesus is doing verse 36. God verse 37. The Scriptures verse 39. Moses verse 46. My response is belief.
12) Part-personal Question. My answer: They refused to believe testimonies. They do not have the love of God in their hearts. They missed the Truth in the Word. Pride, vanity, self-love. They lived on each other’s praise. Their belief in their own self-importance blinded them to the One who is truly important. How will I pray? Well, I’ll just pray.
13) Part-personal Question. My answer: They did not believe in the Scriptures. They misinterpreted the Scriptures, looking for a military savior. They were looking for what they wanted to find. They were blinded. We must read with an open mind and not preconceived notions. We must be open to God speaking the Truth to us. I’d ask for eyes to see and a humble heart from God to see the Truth.
Conclusions: All personal questions. All modern man has are the Scriptures. John the Baptist is dead. Jesus is not here on earth. Again, the pride of man is the downfall of many. We are blinded to the truth and we must ask God to show us. We must let Him lead. We must submit to Him. Or all of us will be spiritually blinded and will miss Jesus. And our lives are too short for that.
End Notes: Jesus’ testimony about himself is not enough because anyone can claim anything. Debt 19:15 says one witness is not enough. Two or three are needed. Here, Jesus goes beyond that by citing 5 witnesses.
The religious leaders for a time believed John the Baptist. A lamp is light, the light of God.
Jesus’ works were of compassion to others, not military might. This Messiah is not the one expected because again man misconstrues God’s word.
Everything Jesus does is God’s testimony but in Luke 3:22 God specifically anoints Jesus at his baptism.
They studied the Scriptures but never found the Truth there. How tragic! What a message for us!
The religious leaders were unwilling to come to Jesus out of pride. They did not love God. This was a heart issue.
Jesus prophesies the Anti-Christ here and others who will claim to be the Messiah.
New Testament writers all took the stand that the Old Testament as a whole points to Jesus (Luke 24:25-27, 44-46).
These men did not believe Moses who wrote extensively of the Messiah (Deut 18:15; Num 20:8-12, 21:8-9; Lev 1-7; Exodus 21:5-6).
