John 5:36-38 - Works

5:36

Jesus had referred to John’s testimony, largely as a starting point, giving His hearers every chance to pay attention. Next He points to the works He has been doing. Not just the works He has been doing, but the works the Father gave Him to do. Remember that the Father has also prepared good works for us to do (Eph 2:10).

In Jesus’ case these works refer to the miracles and the healings. While John the Baptist was in prison he sent his disciples to enquire as to whether or not Jesus really was the Messiah, Jesus answer was to point to the blind seeing, the lepers being cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised and the poor hearing the good news (Matt 11:3-5). The miracles of Jesus are absolutely essential. Some foolish people try to read the gospels discounting the miracles, without the miracles there is no Jesus.

This is also a crucial question we should all ask ourselves: are we doing the works the Father has given us to do?

5:37,38

So we have had the witness of John the Baptist and the works that Jesus has been doing. Now we have the witness of the Father Himself, and this is the witness above all witnesses. The Jews had never heard the voice of God, nor had they seen His form, nor does His word abide in them. Consider how offensive this would be. The Pharisees were Jews, not only that they were the most devout of Jews, and they devoted themselves to the Scriptures. They sought to base their whole life on the word of God and to help the nation do so as well. Yet Jesus says they have absolutely no idea of who God is.

What is His basis for saying this? It is simply that they do not believe in Jesus Himself. Belief, or otherwise, in Christ is the test of whether or not someone truly knows God. Jesus is the focus of all God’s plans, so if we reject Jesus we reject God.

I wonder of Jesus would be arrested these days for “hate speech” or something like that, offending other religions?