Day 36 – Blinding Pride

Read:  John 5:31-47

Jesus knew the religious leaders would not believe what He was telling them. They had already "sent to John" the Baptist asking for his opinion. Apparently, these leaders had, at some point, believed John (John 5:35). Now that John's teaching about Jesus did not align with their opinion, they discounted his testimony.

Jesus' second witness is far "weightier" than John. Jesus says that God Himself bears witness about Jesus. The works Jesus is doing are works that God has given Him to do. The reason these religious leaders do not recognize God's testimony about Jesus is that they have never heard God's voice or seen His form (John 5:37), nor does His word "dwell" in them (John 5:38). These are certainly strong indictments against leaders who seek to teach others about a God they apparently do not know.

Jesus' third witness is the Holy Scripture. Religious scribes and Pharisees dedicated themselves to the study and memorization of Torah (John 5:39). They rightly believed the words of Scripture contained eternal life but failed to see the "Word" when it was made flesh and standing right before them.

Jesus’ final witness is Moses, who wrote about Jesus in the Torah. When invoking Moses as a witness, Jesus reverses roles with His accusers, declaring that they are the ones who will stand accused by Moses since it is his teaching they have rejected.

From John the Baptist, a contemporary prophet they had seen and heard, to God whom they have never seen nor heard, to the Scriptures they so diligently studied, to Moses whom they revered for writing those Scriptures, these leaders failed to see and accept the truth. The reason for their failure was the absence of the love of God in their hearts (John 5:42). These leaders were seeking glory from each other -- glory as great teachers, glory as respected leaders -- just not the glory that only comes from God. 

How often are we content with the false glory that comes from the praise of others? The human heart is designed to seek the glory of our Creator. In the absence of a deep and sincere love for God, we will settle for a poor substitute – the praise of men. Once we seek the counterfeit, it becomes difficult to recognize the genuine article.

With the perspective of two thousand years of history, we marvel at the failure of the religious leaders to see the visible signs. But we are just as susceptible to their blinding pride. How many times have I failed to recognize Jesus because I have allowed the love of God to be replaced by the praise of men?  How often do I miss the truth of the Scriptures because I am more interested in making them say what I want? How many times have I marveled at the prophet while missing the prophecy?

The words of John’s introduction to the Gospel form the perfect preamble for all we have read so far: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:10-11)

Glory of God,

I confess I often miss your Glory because I am busy seeking my own. Forgive me, and “open my eyes, that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me.” *

Amen