John 5

“I do not accept glory from men, but I know you – that you have no love for God within you.  I have come in My Father’s name, yet you don’t accept Me.  If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.  How can you believe?  While accepting glory from one another, you don’t seek the glory that comes only from God.  Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father.  Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.  But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”  John 5:41-47 (HCSB)

I admit it.  I’m not a very smart guy; I went to public school in Arkansas.  But even I know that Moses is BIG for Judaism!

I have mentioned before that my wife and I try to visit Israel as often as possible.  People ask me if it ever gets old seeing the same sights.  To be honest, there are only two sites in Israel that I’m excited about seeing anymore: People experiencing Israel for the first time and seeing Israelis understanding the Gospel.

A young lady who attended my Riverside Bible study once shared a conversation she had with a Jewish schoolmate.  She invited her Jewish friend to Bible study, but her friend said, “You can’t be Jewish and believe in Jesus.”  

Essentially, this girl was saying, “Moses and Jesus don’t mix.”

This is a misconception that Jews have, as well as many “Christians.”  The standard Jewish argument is that you have to be either Jewish or “Christian.”  I could argue this point all day, but the truth lies in Jesus’ words, not mine.

Jesus is telling Israel’s religious leaders (and us today) that the most Jewish thing they could do is to believe in Him - the Messiah!  To further prove His point, Jesus adds that it will be Moses who judges the Jews who refuse to believe in Jesus as Messiah.

He is also saying that if Jews don’t follow Him, then not only do they not receive His atonement, but they don’t even understand Moses!

My advice to the girl in our study (the one with the Jewish friend) was that she continued to share her faith, even though her friend has articulated a so-called “intellectual conundrum” about reckoning her Jewishness with following Jesus.    The most anti-Semitic thing you can do is withhold Messiah from a Jewish person.  Press on with the Gospel in truth and love.  Pray the Spirit will open the eyes of the hearts of the Jewish community (and beyond!).  Furthermore, pray for revival among all people in our day!