John 5:34,35 - A lamp that burned

5:34

Earlier we read that Jesus would not entrust Himself to men for He knew what was in their hearts (John 2:24). We need to recognise that the “proof” that Jesus is God does not come from human testimony. In the same way, the “proof” that the Bible is indeed the word of God does not come from archaeological evidence, nor the testimony of the church. God is His own witness and no other witness is needed.

“but I mention it to you that you might be saved”. Nevertheless, Jesus mentioned John the Baptist to help the Jews see the truth. Atheists and sceptics are forever complaining that God doesn’t give enough evidence of His existence. The truth is that He gives far more than is needed, the failure lies entirely on our part.

So Jesus referred to John for he was someone they had all seen heard. In the same way with the Bible the historical evidence for the reliability of the Bible is orders of magnitude greater than the evidence for the veracity of any other documents of similar antiquity.

5:35

At this time John’s ministry had finished. The exact time of this incident is not given, so we don’t know if John was dead by now, or imprisoned, but his task had been completed.

John is referred to as a lamp in John’s gospel, only Jesus is the light. John provided light which pointed the way to Jesus, Jesus Himself is the light, the source of light.

For a time the people listened to John. “you chose for a time to enjoy his light”. Now the Jewish leaders were at best lukewarm towards John, but many of the people definitely were much more enthusiastic about John and did enjoy the light. So this might indicate that the words we read hear are directed much more towards the people, not just to the Jewish leaders.

Jesus is also saying to them, remember what John said, now follow it through, ie believe in Jesus, the one to whom John was pointing.